The Temporalis Procellos
by mythSSK
Summary: After tracking down an artifact known as the Ocarina of Time, Link attempts to use its power to reunite himself with the Twilight Princess Midna, inadvertantly setting off a chain of events that leads to the destruction of not one but two timelines.
1. Prologue

**Temporalis Procellos**

**By:** mythSSK

**Summary:** In an age long past, the power of an artifact known as the Ocarina of Time allowed a legendary hero to traverse the tides of time to save all of Hyrule from the machinations of a madman. In this age, a new hero, a Twilight Hero, sets out to find a way to bridge the world of Light and the world of Twilight in the hopes of being reunited with his lost love. Events converge with the Ocarina at the forefront and devastation ensues as two parallel timelines collide. Can Link salvage what little chance he may still have to regain the love of his life, or will he be forced to abandon her in order to save the world once again – this time, from himself?

**Special Thanks to Exp.626.Fan for all his support and ideas!**

- - - - - -

_Prologue_

The elaborate tangle of threads dominated the entire room now; it had grown to immense proportions since he had started... how long ago? He couldn't even remember when he had begun. It felt like it had been years. It probably had, for him at least; time moved differently for him than it did in the Outside.

Flickering light from his lantern, sitting atop a haphazardly overturned crate, illuminated the room. The weak light barely managed to penetrate to the far corners, but it was more than enough for his purposes. The network of colourful threads arched over his head and spiderwebbed its way over the rough-cut stone, casting strangely patterned shadows against the walls.

Myriad pieces of torn parchment covered in hastily scrawled Hylian script dangled from knots throughout the labyrinth of thread, bobbing gently when disturbed like dewdrops suspended in a skullta web. He examined several as he paced the length of one wall, noting the events, dates, people and places written upon them.

He ran a finger down the length of a crimson-dyed strand, tracing along where it intersected with one of yellow and then coming to rest where it knotted into a junction of blue and green. The thread was strong and thick, made of stout Ordon wool; it had been so long since he had last seen Ordon village, his hometown, but fear kept him away. Fear of finding out what sort of destruction had been wrought there because of his reckless actions, like in so many other places in Hyrule. He had come dangerously close to breaking down several times recently, and seeing his home in ruins may have pushed him over the edge.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully while he considered his next move, and was mildly surprised by the layer of coarse stubble his jaw had acquired over the past week. It had been a while now since he had first started needing to shave, but it was something that often fell by the wayside, unimportant and unthought of.

Many things tended to fall by the wayside for him these days. His long blonde hair was unkempt, and the black circles under his eyes hinted at his difficulty sleeping. His gauntlets and boots, once always kept well-oiled and pliable, were now cracked and split by overuse, the once-supple leather faded to a light grey-brown. His belt had all but fallen apart.

The only item of clothing he wore that was still in good repair was the tar-black tunic he wore, the magic woven into its fabric enough to keep it from basic wear and tear. The tunic was cut in a style reminiscent of his old dull green attire, but the dark fabric was so black that it almost seemed to absorb the light from the lantern.

He only knew that the key to his predicament lay in figuring out exactly how the ocarina worked. He strode over to the upturned crate that served as the room's sole furnishing and picked up the small, unassuming piece of ceramic. Once he could determine exactly what made certain melodies affect the magic inside the instrument the way they did, he would be able to puzzle out how to undo the mess he had made and how to reach his original goal. With the combined magics of the ocarina and the sword, nothing was beyond his reach.

Thinking of the sword made him shift the weight of the scabbard on his back uneasily. It had begun to feel… uncomfortable, was the best way he could think to describe it, whenever he drew the blade from its scabbard. At first he had dismissed it out of hand as his imagination, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, something telling him that the uncomfortable feeling was significant, but he couldn't recall why. He pushed it from his mind – there would be time to worry about that when he had fixed the damage he had caused and returned Midna to his side.

Midna. He sighed audibly. Had he only realised that she intended to destroy the Twilight Mirror before the fact, none of this would have been necessary. He would have been able to talk to her, reason with her. It was so long ago now, but he still remembered how his heart had caught in his throat when he thought that she was going to say to him what he hadn't had the courage to say to her. She hadn't, of course, but maybe she had thought it. Maybe. Maybe she still did. He held onto that thought. If she didn't, then all of the damage he had caused would be in vain.

Another visit to the castle library was in order. Hyrule Castle had been in possession of an impressive collection of rare tomes and manuscripts even before the Temporalis Procellos, but now the twisting corridors folded in on one another in an impossibly massive labyrinth; far larger even than the castle that held it, impossible as that seemed. Twisted into mind-bendingly non-Euclidean patterns, the halls managed to cram in books from a hundred different eras. It was easy to get lost, but he always had an easy way out as long as he held the ocarina – its powers of teleportation had proven useful on a number of occasions so far.

Looking over at the clumped strands of dyed thread held in place with beeswax, he nodded silently to himself. He was close now, he was sure of it. Things were already starting to fall into place. He just needed more time. He smiled mirthlessly at the ocarina in his hand, knowing that he had all the time in the world. None of this changed anything. Regardless of what had happened, he was still and always would be Link, The Chosen Hero, The Saviour of Hyrule.


	2. Chapter 1

_Chapter One_

Colin dodged nimbly under the swing of the wooden sword, ducking low into a roll behind his opponent and bringing his own weapon up in a counterattack. As fast as he was, Link was faster. Colin stumbled, the momentum of his attack throwing him off-balance as Link rapidly sidestepped the manoeuvre. The older boy's free hand snaked out and seized Colin's swordarm by the wrist, disarming him with a deft flick of his hand. The training sword skittered off to the side and out of reach as Colin barely managed to catch himself before he fell over.

"Good, Colin. Your form was almost perfect on that one. Once you get some more speed into your movements, I might not be able to avoid that," A slight smile curved Link's lips as the 11-year old grinned up at him, "I think that's enough for today. Uli will skin me and your da both if I don't get you back in time for supper."

Colin's wide grin faded into a look of consternation, "Oh! You're right. It is getting late." A quick glance to the sky plainly showed that the sun still had quite a ways to go before it would be time for an evening meal, but these days Link was careful to tread lightly around Colin's normally placid mother. She didn't half approve of these lessons, but after Colin repeatedly begging his father, Rusl had managed to convince her to allow them for now.

The clearing they stood in was a stone's throw away from the pool of the light spirit Faron, guardian of Faron Woods. None of the light spirits had revealed themselves again since the day of Ganon's defeat, but Link could still feel Faron's presence any time he came near the crystal-clear waters. Epona stood a little ways away, closer to the pool – she was well-trained enough that Link never had any need to tie her down, and was cropping peacefully at a patch of grass.

Link studied the scenery as Colin scurried over to the rock he had left his overcoat on while they practiced. It was starting to get colder as the season turned, and the boy's mother would tan his hide if he left the house without a coat. Colin had eagerly accepted Link's hand-me-down tunic, and after some quick needlework by Uli the outfit now fit him almost as well as it had Link.

Link's new forest-green tunic was similar to the one he had formerly worn while fighting against the forces of Ganon, but this version had been tailored on a commission from Princess Zelda herself, as a gift to him. Gold trim edged the well-cut, fine green fabric, and the symbol of the Triforce was embroidered in golden thread on each shoulder under the stylized firebird crest of the royal family, indicative of his status as a Royal Knight of Hyrule. She had had a matching cape crafted as well, "to complete the outfit," she had said, but that was where he had drawn the line.

As far as he was aware, he was the youngest ever to receive a knighthood from the royal family. Barely seventeen, Link had not even begun needing to shave yet – a fact Rusl, his friend and former mentor, took every opportunity to remind him of.

While Colin fumbled with his overcoat, Link walked over to where the training sword lay forgotten off to the side. Reaching down, he picked up the wooden switch and bundled it together with the one he already held. Link's real sword and shield sat propped against the rock that Colin's coat had been resting on. The young boy scooped them up awkwardly as Link turned towards him, tucking the scabbard under one arm while carrying the shield in both hands across his chest and tottering over to the golden-haired knight.

The sword was serviceable, he supposed – it had been crafted by the finest smith for use by a Hylian Knight after all – but he was still unused to handling an ordinary weapon as opposed to the legendary Master Sword. He had returned that blade to the Temple of Time on orders from the Princess, albeit reluctantly. The shield at least was the same Hylian kite he had always used.

The two of them swapped armfuls, Colin strapping the wooden practice weapons to his back while Link secured his scabbard and shield. Walking over and gathering up Epona's reins, Link guided her down the path as they started back to the village at a leisurely pace. Splashes of sunlight filtered through the trees and played across the rough trail as they walked. Link was happy to note that the forest hadn't changed at all in the eight months that had passed since the cleansing of the Twilight that had draped the land.

Ordon lay up ahead; the village itself hadn't changed much either. After the bulblin raid and the children had returned from Kakariko, a watchtower had been erected much like the one in the other village. It seemed a wasted effort, considering that the village was surrounded by forests and any half-stealthy group could quite easily make it almost all the way to the houses without being noticed. Most of the villagers must have thought so too, as the tower was barely ever manned. Apart from that one addition, the village was much the same as it had always been.

As they moved closer, Link could make out people moving around in their lives. Mayor Bo was out and about – the large man was unmistakable even at this distance. The Mayor had even sumo wrestled with gorons and won; as had Link himself, but he would never have been able to overpower one of the massive, rocklike people without Bo's training. Fado, Link's former employer, waved excitedly as he saw them approaching, but spun around as one of his goats came charging down the hill. Again. Surprisingly, Fado managed to seize the goat's horns and wrestle it to the ground before it could escape. Jaggle, his dark skin camouflaging himself somewhat as he sat in the shade, was resting his eyes as he lay back against the short cliff overlooking the village.

"Are you and Illia still friends?" Colin asked suddenly.

There was a pause before Link replied, "We're still friends." Colin was still too young to understand Link's relationship with Illia. The two of them had basically been all but betrothed to each other since they were children, and had been close friends as long as Link could remember. Now, after everything that had happened, he just felt awkward around her. There was just nothing else there anymore. He felt bad about it – when she tried to talk to him she seemed confused, or frustrated, or both. Sometimes she looked hurt. "Things are just… different now."

"Why?"

Because while she still loved him, his heart belonged to another. Because after all he had been through he would never be able to settle down to live a mundane life as a farmer in Ordon village. Because he ached to be with Midna, her absence a gnawing void filling his chest, "Just because. You had better run on ahead, evening's getting on and your ma won't be pleased if you keep her waiting. She'll have you scrubbing floors tomorrow from sunup 'till supper if you're late, and box your ears for good measure."

Colin squeaked and started to bolt, but stopped and turned to look at him, "One day, I'm going to be just like you Link! I'm going to be a Royal Knight and I'm going to save Hyrule and I'm going to protect everyone!" A wide grin split his face again as he turned and scampered off towards his parents house, almost at a run. Link frowned slightly at the retreating figure. Colin had changed so much ever since the bulblins had attacked Ordon, back when Ganon still threatened Hyrule.

A year ago he would never have been able to picture the shy, quiet boy even holding a sword, let alone being able to use it, but after the attacks on Ordon and Kakariko he had picked one up of his own volition. After the shadow had been lifted from Hyrule and Link had been knighted, he had begged to become his squire. Link had said no, of course – not only because Uli would have had his hide, but Colin and the other children were his friends. He didn't want them fawning over him like the servants were wont to do when he stayed at the castle. The bowing and scraping by the people there had become tiresome very quickly, and Link tried to limit his time in the castle to a little as necessary.

Unfortunately, visits to the castle were becoming more and more necessary as he exhausted his other avenues of research during his investigations. The castle library boasted an impressive array of tomes, and Link was fairly certain that the answers he sought would be found hidden somewhere in those volumes. He had hired a scholar to delve into the library for him, but it was a lot of work for just one person, and Tuli was a bit scattered at the best of times.

That was a concern for tomorrow, though. He would leave for the castle in the morning, and if he didn't run into any troubles he would arrive late in the afternoon. Tuli would meet him that evening and provide a full report of what she had uncovered thus far, and hopefully give him some clues to work from. He prayed to the Goddesses that Tuli would find something, _anything_, he could use. All of his own investigations had come up empty-handed so far, and he was fast running out of places to look for answers.

- - - - - -

Tuli tottered slightly under the weight of the stack of books as she made her way down the hallway, her footsteps echoing loudly on the white marble tiles. The long corridor was brightly lit, the midday sun streaming in through the large windows placed every so often along the western wall. Her rooms weren't far from the castle library, so she didn't have long to walk before she reached them.

Resting her weight against the door as she fumbled awkwardly with the handle, she attempted to work it open with her elbow. Her long brown hair caught between her shoulder and the dark mahogany and she bit her lip as it tugged painfully. Stumbling, she overbalanced and fell into the room as the door swung inwards on well-oiled hinges, sending her neatly stacked pile of tomes and parchments scattering across the floor.

Sighing, Tuli got to her knees and began gathering up her research materials. Link was due back sometime today and would probably want a full report on her discoveries as soon as he returned; she didn't intend to be caught unprepared this time.

Tuli's cheeks coloured slightly as she recalled the knight's last visit. He had all the manners of a bulblin, bursting into her room unannounced – without so much as a knock at the door! – while she had been in the middle of readying herself for bed, wearing nothing more than a thin shift. She wasn't sure who turned a more vivid shade of crimson, him or her.

Picking the bundle back up and placing it haphazardly on her writing desk, she pressed a finger to the bridge of her eyeglasses and pushed them gently back into a more comfortable position. By the Goddesses, Link was handsome. If only he wasn't so obsessed over this Midna girl he had told her about. She sighed again. Picking up one of the volumes she had placed on the desk, she ran a brief mental checklist to make sure she had everything she would need.

A light knock at the open door made her spin around in surprise, and she goggled briefly at the woman standing in the doorway. "Oh! Your m-majesty!" She managed an awkward curtsy. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you."

Princess Zelda smiled warmly as she glided into the room, the golden hem of her white and purple samite gown lightly brushing the carpet. Her hand, clad in a white silk glove up to the elbow, reached out and closed the door lightly behind her. "That's quite alright, Tuli. Preparing for the return of your patron knight, I see."

Tuli straightened and unconsciously adjusted the russet stole across her shoulders, anxiety worming its way across her small, delicate features. "Um, yes, your majesty." She curtsied again, placing the book she had been holding back on the table. She hadn't really met Zelda before, and wasn't sure how to behave around royalty. Sweat started to bead on her forehead and she swallowed nervously.

The princess laughed, "All that bobbing about is going to make me sea sick if you're not careful. Be at your ease, Tuli, there is no reason for nerves around me." She moved over to the overstuffed armchair that sat in the corner of the room and delicately sat down, gesturing towards the chair next to the writing desk opposite her. "Please, sit."

Tuli quickly stepped over to the chair and planted herself in it. "To uh… to what do I owe to honour of your visit, your majesty?"

"I wanted to talk to you about your research. I understand you have a possible lead or two in regards to bridging Hyrule and the Twilight Realm?"

"Um, yes. I mean, er, yes, your majesty. Well, no. Not exactly, your majesty. Er, maybe. Um." Tuli shifted in her chair nervously, smoothing the front of her white robe with her hands.

"Please, tell me of what you have discovered."

"Um. Alright. Well… I guess first of all would be my progress with the Shadow Crystal."

"That is the crystal that Midna would use to transform Link into his wolf form while the Twilight was still draped over Hyrule, correct?"

"Yes, that's it. Well, it fell inert when the Twilight Mirror was broken – Princess Midna must have overlooked it during the confusion during Ganon's death and left it behind. I've been probing it and cross-referencing what I could with some older materials, and I think that with some more work I may be able to mimic the crystal's connection to the Twilight Realm. After I can do that I could study the connection itself and try to find some way to re-establish it."

"And is that all you have to report?" Confusing as it was, the princess sounded hopeful that it was.

"Um. No, your majesty. There is an artifact that I found a number of references to that I believe may be a possible alternative to the entire issue of bridging the realms. Unfortunately I am yet to find any sort of clue as to what its current location might be."

"What is it?"

"It used to be an heirloom of the Royal Family. An ocarina. _The_ ocarina. Of Time. Ahem. Um. Your majesty. From what I have ascertained it seems to be an object of no minor power, and is capable of exerting influence over time itself."

It appears that the last use of the ocarina coincides with Ganon's first appearance. Little over a century ago, it seems one of your ancestors gave it to someone that the books refer to as the 'Hero of Time', who used its powers to travel through time and learn of Ganon's intention to take over Hyrule, in essence allowing them to disrupt his plans before he had a chance to act."

"So it may be possible for Link to use this Ocarina of Time to travel back to a point before the Twilight Mirror was shattered and prevent Princess Midna from destroying it?" Princess Zelda expression was unreadable, her tone measured.

"Of course travelling through time and changing something like that may have drastic and far reaching consequences." Tuli said hastily, "If it would even be as simple as that. But I'm sure that we could take that into due consideration and ensure that nothing changes that we do not intend. Fairly sure. Um."

Nodding slowly, the princess leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers in her lap, seemingly deep in thought. "I am sorry Tuli, but I am going to need to ask you to hide your information regarding the Ocarina of Time from your patron. Link is not to learn of it. In fact, from now on anything more that you intend to report to him you must report to me first, and I will choose what he is to know and what he is not."

"Your majesty?"

"Ganon may be dead and the Twilight lifted from the land, but this kingdom still has need of Link and his abilities. As a Royal Knight of Hyrule, he has an obligation to the Hylian people to protect them and put the well-being of this kingdom ahead of his own desires. What's done is done, and he needs to be focusing on the future. Do you understand, Tuli?"

Tuli's open mouth snapped shut after a second and she nodded dumbly, "I… yes, your majesty. I understand."

"You do not need to hide everything from him. Your research concerning the Shadow Crystal is fine for now. Feed him just enough so that he is satisfied that you aren't wasting his time, but not enough for him to have something to work with. Eventually the lack of progress will frustrate him enough and he will give up. Until that time, I am counting on you. I have every confidence that I can trust your discretion with this matter, Tuli." The princess stood, her cool gaze piercing through Tuli as the scholar scrambled to her feet.

"Yes, your majesty. As you say." Tuli curtsied deeply, her mind racing.

"Thank you, Tuli." Princess Zelda reached out and touched her lightly on the shoulder, her expression melting into a warm smile. "We will talk again later." She turned and glided to the door, slipping out into the hall and closing it behind her.

Tuli exhaled loudly and collapsed back onto her chair. There were no thoughts of disobedience. She had received a directive from Princess Zelda herself; she had no choice but to obey and hope that the princess had made the right decision. Maybe Zelda _was_ right and after a while Link would just forget about Midna, and all the time he spent with her might turn into something else. Maybe. She could live in hope.

- - - - - -

Zelda strode down the hallway purposefully. A pair of guardsmen, on their way to the gates by the look of them, dropped to one knee as she approached but the princess brushed past them without acknowledgement. Things were starting to get out of hand with this fool's errand Link had taken upon himself. She knew how he felt about Midna, but she meant what she had said to Tuli. He had a duty first and foremost to Hyrule and its people, and he was going to meet it even if Zelda had to drag him by his pointed ears.

She felt slightly bad for Tuli, though. It wasn't fair to ask her to withhold information from Link, especially considering how the young scholar mooned over him. That had been obvious from the moment that Zelda had first seen Tuli in the castle, the way she hung off of Link's every word and gesture. Zelda could hardly blame her, though. The young knight was quite handsome, and initially after Ganon's defeat she had considered him as a possible consort. Of course, that had been laid to rest rather quickly when she learned of his feelings for Midna.

The Ocarina of Time, however… she hadn't seen that coming. The location of the ocarina had been passed down by word of mouth through the royal family for the past few generations, but she had never really even thought about it before now. How far could she really trust Tuli to keep her silence? Perhaps it would be a good idea to have it moved. No, not yet. Tuli seemed loyal enough to the throne. Though even if she did tell Link, it would take time for them to track down the artifact. If she really needed to, Zelda would have plenty of time to move it.

Sometimes as a ruler, Zelda had to make hard decisions. It was very hard, trying to decide what was best for an entire kingdom. One of the things her mother had taught her was to never regret. Regardless of the bad choices you might make as a leader, you can't regret them or you would start to second-guess yourself. Second-guess yourself, and you would appear unsure of yourself. Appear unsure of yourself, and people would lose faith in you. After having her rule undermined by the Twilight so recently, Princess Zelda could not afford for the people to lose faith in her. Regardless of the cost to herself, she would do whatever it took to ensure that did not happen, and if hiding certain things from Link was the only way to do that, she would do it without ever having a second thought.


	3. Chapter 2

_Chapter Two_

Epona nuzzled at Link as he made sure the cinch fastening the saddle to her was secure, and he patted the mare gently on the nose, absently murmuring a vague reassurance. The morning sun was just cresting the tops of the trees, bathing Ordon Village in its gentle rays. The young knight had been up for a few hours already; the sooner he left, the sooner he'd be back at the castle and the sooner he might have another lead to go on.

Link patted himself down, making sure all his pouches and equipment was secure on his person. He carried a lot, he supposed, but he never knew when one item or another would prove useful. The Captain-Commander of the Royal Knights, Roam, had offered to assign him a squire to help him, but he preferred travelling alone. Besides, growing up as a farmhand had given him a strong back and he didn't mind the extra weight terribly much. He was happy enough to carry everything just so long as nothing restricted his movement.

"Heading back so soon?"

The familiar voice brought a brief smile to his face before he turned around, "I can't afford to waste too much time. You know I enjoy visiting you and the other villagers, Rusl, but there are still many things that need to be done."

The older man gave a wry smile, running a hand through his dirty-blonde hair and straightening his headband idly with a finger before putting on a more serious expression. "If you ever need an extra sword arm, you know where to find me, alright? I'm sure the rest of The Group feels the same way as well."

"Thanks Rusl, but you're needed here. Uli, Colin and Senna need you. Besides, Shad has already been helping Tuli here and there with her research when he can." Senna was Rusl's baby daughter, born not long after Link had cleansed Hyrule.

"Hah!" Rusl snorted. "He'd probably be a bit more helpful if he didn't spend so much time in that City in the Sky with those bird people. Maybe you should have held off on telling him what you did about the Oocca a bit longer."

Link grinned as he put a foot in the stirrup. "Maybe. Say hi to Auru and Ashei for me next time you see them." Swinging up onto Epona with ease, he put a fist to his chest in the customary salute of the Knights of Hyrule. "See you around, Rusl."

Rusl nodded pensively. "Good luck with your search. Something will come up soon, I'm sure of it." He gave a vague wave of his arm before turning away and slowly trudging back towards the house.

Link reined Epona around and set off at a trot, heading up the path that led north away from Ordon Village and past the Light Spirit's Spring that he and Colin had been training near the previous day. The Ordon Woods were more peaceful these days, with the threat of the Twilight a distant memory. During the early days after defeating Ganon, Link would take his time riding through this area on his frequent trips back and forth, enjoying the peace and natural beauty of the area. Now, he had ridden this trail far more times than he could count, and he paid little heed to his green surroundings as he made his way swiftly through the woods and eventually into the Faron Province and the southern end of Hyrule Field.

The open morning air was crisp and fresh, carrying the smells of spring with it as a slight breeze played over his body. He enjoyed being around his friends, but the solitude of travelling across the kingdom was as welcome and refreshing as the cool breeze. Sometimes he caught himself glancing at his shadow, half-expecting to see a familiar figure jump out at him.

Eight months. It had been eight months since Link had defeated Ganon and the Twilight had been lifted from the land of Hyrule. Eight months since Midna had shattered the Twilight Mirror, severing the only connection between their two worlds. Eight months of futile searching and research. Eight months trying to undo what Midna had done in a single moment. Eight months of frustration as he hit dead end after dead end after dead end.

He hadn't been riding for more than a few hours before a flicker of purple up ahead startled him out of his reverie, and he scowled irritably when he recognised the familiar sight of a raiding party of violet-skinned bokoblins making their way across the field ahead of him. Narrowing his eyes, Link slowed Epona to a walk while he took out his bow and drew a feathered shaft from his quiver. The runty creatures had already seen him, and were gesturing excitedly towards the lone mounted figure as they jabbered in their crude language. He must seem like an easy target to them.

There had been a point during his quest to save Hyrule from the encroaching Twilight when he would have completely ignored the creatures and let Epona's speed carry him past them without having to waste his time dispatching them, but things were different now. As the Princess so often reminded him, he was a Royal Knight of Hyrule, and had a responsibility to the people to keep the land safe from bandits and raiding parties of monsters like these.

At least monsters had become less common since the bulblins had retreated back into the Gerudo Desert. After Link had fought with King Bulblin at Hyrule Castle basically all of those creatures had returned to their main base camp near the Arbiter's Grounds deep in the wasteland, giving the Hyruleans one less group of monsters to worry about.

A twinge of guilt made him sigh – he really had spent most of his time during the months since Ganon's defeat searching for ways to reach Midna. Captain-Commander Roam and Princess Zelda gave him a lot of freedom with his activities, and he had wrung that freedom for all it was worth. What made it harder to argue with Zelda was that he agreed with her to a degree. He really had been neglecting his duties as a Royal Knight, but he couldn't stop. Not now. Not until he was reunited with the Princess of Twilight. He just couldn't. He needed to see Midna again.

Bringing his bow up, he nocked the arrow he had drawn, pulling the bowstring taut and sighting along the thin length of wood. He made a silent count of the creatures as they broke into a run towards him, whooping and jeering. Unlucky thirteen – unlucky for them, at least. Though, it was a relatively large group of them considering how far south they were. At two hundred paces, the lead bokoblin pitched forward, a feathered shaft from Link's bow in its throat, and was trampled underfoot by the rest of the group as they advanced. They didn't even slow down.

A hundred and fifty paces and Link loosed another arrow, this one taking a raider in the eye, and the felled creature disappeared beneath its companion's feet just as quickly as the first. The creatures were incredibly stupid; easy to pick off one by one at a distance. Bulblins had adept archers among their ranks, but the bat-faced bokoblins lacked ranged troops entirely and depended on overwhelming enemies with sheer brute force. A group like this was no credible threat to him.

Link put up his bow as the bokoblins closed to a hundred paces, easing his sword from its scabbard and spurring Epona into a canter towards them. Veering off slightly at the last second, his blade arced upwards through the lead creature's collarbone, sending a spray of thick black ichor into the air as a second brute disappeared with a crunching of bones beneath Epona's flailing hooves. Placing his free hand on the pommel of his saddle, Link pushed down hard as he swung his leg over the saddle and sprung off into the throng of creatures, tucking low into a roll as he hit the ground and hamstringing the nearest bokoblin as he took up his shield and rose to his feet in a single smooth motion. The creature fell to the ground squealing in pain as the others converged on Link, swinging their wickedly curved blades wildly.

Gripping the hilt of his sword tightly as the creatures swarmed around him, Link felt vitality surge down his arm and into his blade as he swung it in a massive arc, throwing his entire weight into a Great Spin that sent the bokoblins tumbling, three more dead before they hit the ground and the remaining half dozen scattered and stunned from the powerful attack.

Not missing a beat, the young knight leapt into the air towards the closest stunned bokoblin and brought his sword down, his Ending Blow piercing the creature's ribcage and ending its life in a mist of ichor as he backflipped from the corpse and landed lightly back on his feet.

Already, a pair of the bokoblins were back on their feet and closing with him, swords flashing. He battered one's sword away with his shield and thrust deeply with his blade, biting deep into the creature's chest. It made a gurgling sound as it collapsed, and Link ducked as the second bokoblin's swung it's sword in a high arc, narrowly missed his head. The slight overextension was all the opening Link needed as he drew his blade across the creatures belly, disembowelling it and sending it flying to the ground in a single sudden strike.

Bringing both hands around to clasp the hilt of his sword, Link leaned back, putting all of his weight on his left foot as the remaining bokoblins reeled in confusion, fear gleaming in their beady eyes as they took in the sight of the bodies surrounding them. Feinting with a quick slash that one of the creatures awkwardly blocked with the flat of its blade, Link bounced on his heel and used his momentum to jump into the air and bring his blade crashing down in a crushing Jump Strike. The force of his blow cleaved the creature's skull in twain as it slammed the already lifeless body to the ground. Even as his sword touched ground, he reversed the movement and brought his sword across the ribcage of the last of the creatures, stunned yet again by the shock of his onslaught, sending it tumbling to lie still in a heap on the ground.

The entire combat had taken less than a minute. Link re-shouldered his shield in a fluid motion with a practiced flourish of his sword. Spinning the blade easily in his hand, he slid it back into its scabbard on his back before turning to where Epona stood, away from the site of the battle. As soon as Link had dismounted, his steed had veered around in a tight circle and stopped just as he had trained her to. She had been alert during the fight, in case any of the bokoblins had taken it into their head to attack her, but now there was a distinctively disinterested look in her large brown eyes as she regarded him.

He mounted once again and wheeled Epona around, taking one last glance at the bodies of the bokoblins, left to lie where they had fallen, before he rode on. The stalhounds and other, natural scavengers that preyed in this region would take care of them soon enough. Tomorrow, little would remain of the bodies themselves, and a week from now it was likely that not even Link's keen eye would be able to discern that a skirmish had taken place here.

The hidden sword techniques taught to him by the Forgotten Hero had helped him prevail against seemingly hopeless odds on countless occasions. The long-dead swordsman had told him how he regretted not having taught others his skills while he was still alive, and in honor of his memory Link had started to pass on the techniques to those he could in the time since the fall of Ganon. Colin was picking up swordplay fast, considering his age, but the real achievement was the rebuilding of the Royal Knights.

The membership of the Knights of Hyrule had been severely diminished during the Twilight's invasion, and most of the newly promoted knights from the standard soldiery were fairly green. Captain-Commander Roam had picked up the hidden techniques even faster than Link himself had, and the other knights were having them drilled into them alongside their standard training. Once the knighthood's forces were fully replenished, Hyrule would have a formidable circle of skilled blademasters to protect it from future threats.

Spurring Epona on, he set off at a brisk pace. Captain-Commander Roam would likely want to see him when he returned to the castle. So would Princess Zelda, for that matter, but she always seemed to be summoning him for one reason or another. He hoped he'd arrive with enough light left in the day to see Tuli before tomorrow.

- - - - - -

The sun climbed high into the sky as Link rode across Faron Province, reaching its zenith as he stopped to let Epona have a rest and a drink at a stream while he made a meagre meal of hard bread and heady Ordon goat cheese. His journey continued on into the afternoon, and scant hours before the onset of sunset Epona was picking their way through the narrow pass leading to the southern gate of Castle Town, the bustling economic and political centre of Hyrule.

The plaza in front of the town gates was empty of people save the two liveried soldiers standing guard; not much traffic passed into the town from the Faron Province, and so the southern entrance was used infrequently at best. Dismounting as the flagstone steps grew closer, Link tied Epona's reins to her saddle and patted her gently on the nose before continuing on foot alone, leaving the mare to her own devices. She disliked crowds, and there would be plenty of people cramming into the streets of the town at this time of the day.

Captain-Commander Roam had goggled at Link the first time he had seen him turn Epona loose in Hyrule Field like that, but Link didn't even think twice about it anymore. To one used to more ordinary horses, letting one run free across the provinces and then expecting her to come back when you called might seem like a good way to lose a horse. Not so with Epona. The sound of the wooden horse call Link wore on a simple leather thong around his neck and tucked inside his tunic carried on the wind for quite some distance to a horse's sensitive ears; a few short notes blown on it and Epona would find him easily wherever he was.

The guards straightened up as Link approached, saluting him respectfully as he came closer. He returned the gesture with a grin; he still wasn't used to having people recognise him all the time, but he supposed it came with the territory. As a highly decorated Royal Knight and hailed by many as the saviour of the kingdom, these days he tended to be noticed whenever he went. Passing the soldiers by, he headed into the town itself as the sun slowly crept towards the horizon.

Market stalls lined the cobblestone streets, jammed in every available space, with merchants and traders of every kind hawking their wares. Most of the people crowding the streets were hylian, but Link noted the presence of several hulking, rock-like gorons touting fine metalwork and even a couple of the lithe, aquatic zora with their coral jewellery and shimmering, waterproof silks.

The buildings in the town were packed close together, built of strong stone and mortar with tiled roofs; most had two or three levels, with open-air balconies enclosed with wrought iron balustrades. Link made his way through the crowds, cutting straight through the middle of the town and into the central square. The plaza here was dominated by a massive central fountain, and the young knight skirted the wide stone basin as he made his way to the northern end of the square, heading straight towards the castle.

He saluted to another pair of liveried soldiers on guard as he passed through the gate leading from the square and onto the bridge that spanned the castle moat. Crossing quickly, he approached a group of four more guardsmen that stood watch over the large set of double doors leading into the castle courtyard at the end of the stone bridge. A quick gesture from the lead guard as he recognised Link and a second later two of his men were pulling the doors open by the large handles, straining under the weight of the heavy stone slabs.

Stepping smartly through to the castle courtyard, Link swept his gaze over the gardens and flagstone paths as he walked through the area, taking in the familiar sights and sounds of the daily activities of the stronghold. Several servants scurried across the courtyard, going about their duties, and a four man patrol of guardsmen marched smartly through to the western wing of the keep while the young knight watched idly.

Passing the tall stone monument to the Royal Family that stood in the very middle of the yard, Link approached the mahogany door that led into the castle proper, giving a small smile and nod to the maid who held it open for him as she dipped into a low curtsy. He stepped through and smiled again, this time at the two fellow Royal Knights who were crossing the cavernous antechamber towards him. Bain and Talis were among the handful of knights who had escaped death during the Twilight invasion, and ranked highest among the order save Captain-Commander Roam and Link himself.

Bain was tall, standing a hand higher than Link, and wore his long fiery-red hair was gathered at the nape of his neck with a rough leather cord. A leather strap cut diagonally across his forest-green tunic and held in place his single piece of armor, a lone polished steel spaulder atop his left shoulder. His face seemed to be set in a perpetual scowl and his brilliant emerald eyes constantly watched his surroundings like a hawk. A large two-handed sword was strapped to his back; though none were visible, Link knew that the red-haired knight had anywhere between half and a full dozen smaller blades hidden on his body at any given time as well.

Talis was shorter but older, with close-cropped brown hair, a sun-darkened complexion and a nose that looked like it had been broken one time too many. He wore a heavy steel cuirass with matching gauntlets and greaves; a forest-green tunic was partially visible beneath his heavily polished armor. His sword and shield were a match for Link's own, and he wore them in the same manner as the younger knight.

Link stopped long enough to exchange some brief words of greeting while he clasped forearms with each in turn before continuing on, and the pair of knights fell into step flanking him as they continued deeper into the castle.

"Roam had a long audience with Princess Zelda yesterday. From what I could find out it seems that you were the main topic of conversation. It looks like they may be intending to try and tighten your reins a bit." Bain spoke quietly to minimize the chances that one of the stray servants going about the halls would overhear. Link didn't need to ask how the other knight knew what had been discussed; Bain had a certain knack with women, especially the maidservants who waited on Princess Zelda, and he tended to be able to massage whatever information he wanted out of them without too much effort.

There were murmurs among the Royal Knights about Princess Zelda's choice of Captain-Commander of the order. Roam had been the most senior surviving knight after the lifting of the Twilight, and had ranked fairly highly even before then, but many of the knights believed that Link was more deserving of the title of Captain-Commander, Talis and Bain more openly than most.

Link was careful not to actually ask them to do anything for him, lest it be seen as an attempt to overstep his bounds, but they tended to gravitate towards him whenever he returned to the castle and fill him in on what he had missed. Despite his reluctance to deliberately use them, Link was fairly certain that if he did ask them to do something they would likely obey without question, likely even if it countermanded one of Roam's orders.

It was useful to have them around, but the truth was that Link was glad that Princess Zelda hadn't asked him to take on the title. From what he had seen, Roam was constantly run off his feet and always had paperwork that needed reviewing. With all his time eaten up by all those duties, Link wouldn't have had the time he needed to chase after Midna. The lifestyle of the Captain-Commander didn't seem conducive to adventuring, and Link valued his freedom.

Sighing, he nodded. It was beginning to grate on him; it had seemed like the princess was taking every opportunity to stymie his efforts to find a bridge to the Twilight for months now, though she had never directly tried to dissuade him from it. "I will keep that in mind. Do you know where Tuli is?"

Talis went to speak, but closed his mouth again as Princess Zelda turned around the corner of the hallway ahead of them with an escort of two guardsmen. Resplendent in her traditional royal gown of white and purple samite, her golden tresses crowned with the golden circlet that proclaimed her ruler of Hyrule, she glided down the hall towards the group of knights, who all bowed deeply along with murmurs of "Your majesty." Soldiery and lesser knights would have been expected to drop to one knee if she addressed them, but the protocol was slightly more relaxed for knights of their status. Link often got away with just a slight dip of his head, but not in front of other Royal Knights.

"It is good to see you again, Link." She said congenially.

"The pleasure is all mine, your majesty."

Princess Zelda turned to the other two knights, "If you will excuse us, Link and I have matters to discuss." After a brief exchange of glances, Bain and Talis bowed once more and murmured a token reply before turning and striding off the way they had came. Though she tilted her head slightly to take in the guards behind her, her gaze remained fixed directly on Link. "Link and I will be taking tea in the Red Room, thank you."

- - - - - -

Despite its name, the Red Room was more of a light dusky pink than anything else, and by the time they arrived a maid was already lighting a fire in the regal stone fireplace. The remaining guardsman took up a position by the door as they entered, and Princess Zelda stepped lightly over to one of the high-backed, dark red leather armchairs as the maid hastened over to a silver tray sitting on a side table. Annoura, that was the maidservant's name, if Link recalled correctly. He had a vague recollection of seeing her on Bain's knee on at least one occasion.

Teaware of fine zora porcelain chimed softly as the Annoura prepared the tea, and Zelda gestured to an armchair across from her, "Please, sit."

Link pulled off his leather gauntlets and doffed his cap, placing them on a small table that stood near the door before walking over to where the princess sat and reluctantly lowering himself into the armchair she had indicated. Annoura lifted the silver tray and delicately proffered it to Zelda, who accepted one of the brimming teacups with a smile. Curtsying shallowly so as not to spill any tea, she then offered the tray to Link, who managed to slop a little over the side of his teacup as he carefully lifted the cup and saucer from the tray. Curtsying again, the maid took one step backwards towards the door before turning and leaving to afford them some privacy, gently closing the door behind her.

Link wasn't really very surprised that she had ambushed him like this basically as soon as he had entered the castle; he had become rather adept at dodging her invitations to join her for tea whenever she sent someone to fetch him, so it seemed she had decided to take it into her own hands. Princess Zelda paused for a minute after Annoura left, sipping at her tea and letting the warmth of the fire begin to permeate the room.

Waiting patiently, Link tasted the tea the maid had made for him and suppressed a slight grimace at its sweetness. Too much honey. He had been expecting it, he well knew from other occasions that the princess liked her tea with an extra dollop, and while she was entertaining guests the maids never seemed to remember anyone's preferences but hers.

"Did you have some… trouble on your return trip?" Princess Zelda studied him with a pensive expression on her face as she spoke, her teacup in its saucer resting it lightly in her lap.

Looking down, Link realised he had a few dried splatters of ichor from the encounter he had earlier in the day. "Oh. I cleaned up a bokoblin raiding party in southern Faron Province on my way in. They won't be troubling anyone again."

The princess nodded in approval. "It is good to hear that you are still helping to keep the people of Hyrule safe from monsters."

"Of course. It is my duty as a Royal Knight, your majesty."

"And what of your most recent expeditions? Did your investigations into the Sheikah lead anywhere?"

His search for a connection between the extinct Shadow Folk and the Twili had hit a brick wall, but he wasn't giving up on that avenue just yet. "After I've consulted Tuli I'll have a better idea of where we stand on that issue." It was a lame answer, but the best he could come up with for now.

"I see. It sounds like you have the situation well in hand." Zelda's tone made it apparent that she knew exactly how well in hand he had the situation.

"As well as can be expected."

Taking another sip of her tea, Zelda gave a small smile. "Well. The reason I asked you here is that I am intending to conduct a personal tour of Hyrule, to inspire and bring hope to the common people, and also so that I may see the current state of our kingdom firsthand. I would like you to lead my retinue."

Link had to concentrate to avoid goggling at her. "Wouldn't Captain-Commander Roam be a better choice for that sort of thing?" While he hadn't exactly been avoiding his duties or Zelda herself – not exactly – he imagined that going on an extended expedition away from the castle with her would be trying to say the least, as well as being however many days or weeks wasted that he could be using to search for Midna instead.

"The people will want to see their princess with the hero that saved their kingdom by her side. I've already had the journey planned and preparations are well underway." The princess's quiet tone had a slight edge to it.

"…when did you want to leave?"

"The day after tomorrow."

This time, Link gaped openly. "The day after tomorrow…? But, I…"

"Is that a problem?"

Warning bells went off in Link's head at the princess's tone, and he forced himself back into a modicum of restraint. "I'm… No, your majesty."

Zelda gave a warm smile. "I am glad. You may leave me now – the hour has grown late, and I believe I will retire to my chambers."

"Yes, princess." Link stood quickly, placing his lukewarm tea on the side table as he retrieved his gauntlets and headgear and making a shallow bow as he moved towards the door.

"Oh, Link?"

The knight hesitated a second before turning around, "Yes, your majesty?"

"It would probably be best to leave off visiting Tuli until morning. As I said, it's getting rather late and it ah, might be better not to risk a repeat of your last visit." Zelda gave a knowing smile.

Link felt his face grow hot as he fumbled behind him for the door handle. "Yes, your majesty." Getting a firm grip, he opened the door in a smooth motion and backed out smartly. The guard standing in the hall beside the door eyed him curiously, and Link glared hard at him before stalking off.

This was decidedly inconvenient. He wondered how much of this came from him shirking his duties and how much came from trying to divert him from his search for Midna. A tour of Hyrule would likely take two or three weeks at best, and it grated on him that she had given him so little notice about it. It might give him a chance to go back over the places he had been in the past few months and try to pick up any clues he might have missed the first time through.

Zelda was right about Tuli, though. It would probably be best if he left off seeing her until the morning. Besides, he was tired. Turning left where the corridor intersected with another, he headed towards his own personal apartments deep within the castle.


	4. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three_

The early morning sunlight filtered through the sides of the drawn curtains, dimly illuminating the room as Tuli performed her morning ritual. Three fist-sized spheres of flame orbited her head as she concentrated on them, feeding magical energy into maintaining them and manipulating their movements. In nothing but a light silk shift, she sat cross-legged on the oval rug in the centre of her room, facing away from the door and towards her writing desk, her eyes staring straight ahead and her face set in a mask of concentration.

This exercise was one she had been using since she first started practicing magic, and had been taught to her by her original mentor. Early on, she could only control one small sphere with any amount of skill, but eventually she had built up her ability until she could handle multiple larger fireballs at once. Tuli didn't imagine that her magical ability would grow too much greater than its current level, but the exercise was theoretically infinitely scalable and she would likely continue to use it as long as she was an active practitioner of the art. It kept her mind sharp and her magical aptitude precise, better than any other regular training she had tried.

Who did Link think he was, not even coming to see her when he returned to the castle? The globes flew faster as Tuli's indignation grew. He was the only reason she was even here, after all, him and his ridiculous obsession with finding this Midna character. Tuli's rooms or the library had always been his first priority as soon as he returned to the castle in the past, in case she had made some progress while he was away or to supply her with discoveries he had made in the field. What had changed?

The fiery spheres spun through the air at a dizzying pace, bobbing and weaving around her head in a complex pattern. To be fair, from what she had determined he did come back pretty late yesterday afternoon and had been waylaid by Princess Zelda as soon as he had. He had probably just decided it was too late to see her and wanted to avoid a repeat of his last visit.

The burning orbs froze in midair, hanging suspended around her. Not that she wanted to have him barging in at all hours of the night, but she had gone to all the trouble of getting everything ready for him – the least he could have done was to actually show up.

Her eyes flicked over to where her pointed hat lay crumpled in the far corner of the room, where she had tossed it last night. It was her best wizzrobe hat, made of soft black panne velvet with a wide brim and a black ribbon fastened around the base of the cone with a thin, polished silver buckle. Her best robes lay tossed over the back of the wooden chair in front of her writing desk, sky blue linen worked with mystical embellishments along the edgings, along with her best black shawl.

She held up her right palm, and one of the fireballs floated down gently and rested a finger's-width above her skin. She hadn't been trying to impress him by dressing up or anything, she told herself – she just believed in looking her best when presenting herself as a professional scholar and wizzrobe. Mostly.

Although, if Link hadn't come last night, then that would mean he would likely come to see her this morning. Cursing mentally, Tuli quenched the remaining spheres of fire and pulled herself to her feet, gathering up her clothes and examining them to ensure they had not been creased too badly by her rough treatment. After a moment she nodded to herself, satisfied that they were still wearable.

Her gaze flicked briefly to the leftmost drawer of her writing desk, where she had ferreted away her notes regarding the Ocarina of Time last night after Princess Zelda's unexpected visit to her room; the small key to the drawer was tucked behind the ribbon on her wizzrobe hat. She was disappointed that she wasn't able to present her findings to Link, and uncomfortable with hiding them from him. Tuli understood the princess's concerns, but she didn't think Zelda was going about things the right way. Of course, the scholar didn't have any better suggestions, but still. It wasn't right to be hiding things from Link.

Sighing, she started getting herself ready – she still needed to get dressed, brush her hair, wash her face, scrub her teeth and make herself smell nice, among other things. She wasn't sure when Link would decide to turn up, but she would be ready for him when he did.

- - - - - -

Sweat gleamed on Link's bare chest as he deftly manipulated the training sword, moving from form to form with flowing precision. This morning routine was something he had drilled into himself to keep his skills sharp in the mostly peaceful times since Ganon's defeat. Morning sunlight bathed the hard-packed earth of the training yard, tucked away in one of the back corners of the castle – it was used mainly by the Royal Knights for training, but while he stayed in the castle Link liked to come here of a morning before anyone else showed up and train in solitude.

He was just finishing up when Bain and Talis entered the yard, both clad in the snug brown tunics that most Knights wore when training. They walked over to a rough, long wooden bench sitting against one wall of the training yard as they watched him complete his exercises. Sticking the wooden weapon point-first in the dirt of the training yard, Link adjusted the way his leather breeches were sitting and approached them casually. "Did you two know about that the Princess was arranging a tour of the kingdom?"

Bain nodded. "Everyone in the castle knows about it." He unfastened a bulging waterskin from his belt and held it out towards the sweating youth.

"Is something wrong?" From the way Talis regarded him with a cautious eye, it was apparent that the older man had noticed Link's mood.

Stretching out a hand to take the offered waterskin, Link filled them in on the events of last night in between mouthfuls of the cool liquid. When he had finished quenching his thirst, he tossed the emptied skin onto the rough wooden bench then plonked down next to it, stretching his legs out in front of him and leaning back against the cool masoned stone of the castle wall.

"It did seem odd that Commander Roam had not begun making arrangements yet. I'm sorry. I should have realised." Talis folded his arms and furrowed his brow as he spoke.

Link made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "It doesn't matter." Straightening up, he focused a careful gaze on his companions. "I can count on you guys, right?"

Both of the other knights nodded simultaneously, without any signs of hesitation. "What do you need us to do?"

The golden-haired youth paused for a second before nodding slightly himself. "Alright. We have one day to arrange everything, so you'll need to move fast. Bain – pick out a dozen more of the newly risen knights, and say thirty of the regular soldiery, twenty or so archers and a handful of scouts. We shouldn't need more than that, I don't think. There isn't much in the way of threats around any more, and the knights on their own will be more than enough to handle anything we might come across. The rest is for show.

Talis, you're in charge of logistics. I know you've had a heap of experience in moving soldiers around, so I'll trust your judgement as to how much of what we'll need, and how we're going to transport it all. I don't know exactly how long this 'tour' is going to take us, but to be safe it might be an idea to prepare as if we're going to be on the road for about a month. It should be no problem for you to arrange everything for a small group like this. If either of you have any problems let me know, but otherwise we'll coordinate tonight to make sure nothing is missed."

There was a brief murmur of agreement from the two knights before each brought their fist up to their chest in salute. Link mirrored the gesture firmly. "Alright. In the meantime, I'm going to go see Tuli. I didn't have a chance to last night after the Princess ambushed me." With that, Link turned and strode out of the training yard and into the twisting corridors of the castle.

A quick visit to his chambers was required for him to wash his arms and face and change into one of his clean green tunics, and it gave him a chance to gather his thoughts regarding the princess's wishes. As an afterthought, he flagged down one of the many servants who were going about their morning duties and asked that she let Tuli know that he would be coming to see her shortly.

With less than a hundred in Princess Zelda's escort, it was likely that Commander Roam and some of the other knights would think Link was being careless in his duty. Perhaps he was. The main reason he had restricted the size of the group so heavily was because he knew it was far easier to move swiftly in a smaller group, and he wanted this 'tour' of the Princess's to be over as quickly as possible so that he would be able to return to other pursuits.

Quickly, Link made his way through the castle to the guest quarters and rapped his knuckles smartly on Tuli's door. At least he had the good sense to knock _this_ time.

"Come in."

Link opened the door, closing it behind him once he stepped inside the room. Tuli was standing beside her writing desk, wearing a sky-blue robe with a black shawl tossed over her shoulders, and tall, pointed black wizzrobe hat. Dressed as she was, she looked more like a royal wizard or sage than a scholar-for-hire. Link smiled at her warmly as he approached. "Hi Tuli."

The young scholar inclined her head coolly, a wintery tone in her voice. "Link."

For a moment, Link was caught off balance. Tuli wasn't usually this icy with him – had he done something to offend her without meaning to? He couldn't think of anything that would have angered her. "Uh. How has everything been? Have you made much progress in your research?"

"Some. Nothing too promising yet, though."

"Okay…" The icy gaze that Tuli had fixed on Link left him mystified. Usually the scholar was bubbly and friendly, her sentences punctuated with 'um'ing and 'ah'ing. "What _have_ you found, then?" Link felt his shoulders relax as Tuli's hard gaze slid from him to the desk she stood beside. She took a single step towards it and reached down, plucking a black and orange crystalline object from the tabletop. Once, Tuli would have handled the Shadow Crystal far more gingerly, but since she had managed to confirm it was completely inert she was far more casual about touching it.

"Well, as you know, I've been doing some experimentation with the Shadow Crystal. I think I am fairly close to finding a way to mimic the Crystal's connection to the Twilight. Once I can do that, I should be able to study the connection in-depth, and in time I might even be able to re-create the Twilight Mirror, or something very much like it." She started to study the crystal intently, tracing its orange ridges with her index finger.

"Oh… Good work. Keep me posted on your progress with that." Link paused, waiting for a response. After it became apparent none was forthcoming, he made an attempt to move the conversation forward. "Is there anything else?"

Tuli looked up at him, a startled expression on her face, and almost dropped the Shadow Crystal. "Um. No. There's nothing else." She dropped her gaze from his face again and placed the crystal carefully back on the tabletop, then unconsciously began to smooth the front of her robe with her hands.

"Is… everything ok?"

"Everything's fine! Why wouldn't everything be fine?"

"I don't know! Are you sure?" By the Goddesses, the girl was confusing him. First she acted like he had done something wrong, and now she was acting like _she_ was the one who had something to hide.

"Link, I…" For a second, Tuli looked back up at him and seemed to be on the brink of saying something before she bit her lip. "Ugh. Never mind."

"What?" The knight's tone was cautious.

"I said never mind!" Tuli folded her arms beneath her breasts and glared at him. "Look, I have a lot of research to do if I'm going to decipher the magic inside the Shadow Crystal."

Link put up his hands defensively. "Okay… I'll just leave you to it, then."

Sighing, the scholar dropped her arms to her side and gave a somewhat apologetic smile. "I'll let you know as soon as I learn something more."

Realising that he wasn't going to get any further with her, Link changed tack slightly. "Thank you. I assume you know about the little excursion that Princess Zelda has planned?"

Tuli nodded. "Yes, why?"

"I'm going to be in charge of her entourage, so I won't be in the castle for a few weeks. If you discover anything while I'm gone, just send me a letter. That one postman manages to get around fast, and he'll carry word to me quickly."

"Alright. I will see you when you return, then." She gave another tight smile.

"When I return." Putting a fist to his chest, Link gave a slight bow and made for the door. He had no idea what had gotten into Tuli, but really at this point he didn't have time to find out and getting to the bottom of it would have to wait until another time. He had far too much to do to get ready to leave tomorrow to be worrying about what was going on with her.

Link turned down into a long hallway with a high, vaulted roof and a series of marble pillars lining it on either side. It was frustrating that Tuli hadn't made much progress since he last saw her – her last line of inquiry, regarding the extinct race known as the Sheikah, hadn't turned anything up either. She was smart, but Link was beginning to think that it was beyond her ability to help him to reach the Twilight Realm.

Turning again, Link froze and ducked back into the hall he had come from when he saw Princess Zelda and an escort rounding the corner up ahead. He really didn't want to deal with Zelda again so soon, especially not right after Tuli's queer behaviour. His eyes darted around as he looked for a door close enough for him to duck through. Failing to see one, an alternative occurred to him.

Reaching behind his back, Link took out one of his clawshots from its holster. He raised the metal device over his head, taking careful aim before squeezing the handle and causing the claw-like head to shoot out and latch firmly onto a weak spot on the vaulted roof. Quickly rappelling to the ceiling with a flick of his wrist, Link hung suspended from the clawshot's strong chain, relying on his impressive upper body strength to keep himself aloft while he kept an eye on the hall below.

Sure enough, a minute or two later the Princess and her escort passed directly beneath him. Link held his breath and held himself still, attempting to make as little noise as possible. The roof was a good twenty feet high in this particular hall, and they passed him by without looking up. After they were out of sight, he gave it until the count of a hundred before lowering himself gently to the ground and replacing the clawshot into its holster.

He gave a slight chuckle when he thought about what he had just done before setting off again. He would need to pack a few things if he was going to be on the road for a couple of weeks. On the other hand, this was a nice opportunity to clear his head and focus on something else for a while before getting back into his search for Midna, and he could use it to show Zelda that he wasn't neglecting his duties as a Royal Knight. Humming softly to himself, he strode towards his quarters.


	5. Chapter 4

_Chapter Four_

"I can have another hundred swords ready to depart the castle with you before the morning is out, your majesty. A single word and it will be so." A hint of frustration tinged Captain-Commander Roam's voice as he spoke. This was the fourth time he had restated his recommendation to Princess Zelda, and his insistence was beginning to exasperate her.

"As I said earlier, Commander, I trust Link's judgement. If he has deemed any more than eighty men in my honour guard to be unnecessary, than I am happy to proceed with the guard he has set." Zelda glided across the room towards the knight, frowning slightly as she looked up at him. The skirt of her royal blue dress, divided for riding, swished faintly as she walked.

The barrel-chested veteran knight stood a good head and a half taller than Zelda herself did, with massively broad shoulders and impressively thickly-muscled limbs. Despite his massive stature, he still managed to give off an air of respect and proper deference towards her. He wore a full steel cuirass with matching gauntlets and greaves – the metal gleamed in the early morning light from the nearby window – and he wore a long, royal blue cape with a heavily embroidered edge.

Zelda wasn't sure how long Commander Roam had been waiting for her in the private sitting room attached to her personal apartments, but he had been there as soon as she stepped out to head to the front of the castle, where her entourage would be waiting for her. The senior knight had not been terribly impressed when he had learned the size of the escort that Link had prepared for Zelda, and had been trying to convince her to postpone her departure until he could make 'proper' arrangements.

"With all due respect, your majesty, Link is not a leader; he's a reckless loner. What he believes is unnecessary is irrelevant – he has no experience in anything like this. He probably thinks the entire guard is unnecessary. He'd have tried to get away with just guarding your entourage by himself if he thought he could get it past you. I apologise for speaking out of turn, but I do feel very strongly in this matter."

Even while standing relaxed, there was something in Roam's manner that had always put Zelda in mind of a hulking lion, powerful and dangerous. She never felt threatened by him, of course; Roam had joined the Royal Knights of Hyrule around the same time that Zelda had been born, and she had known him for as long as she could remember. His thick black moustaches that he had always taken such pride in were speckled with grey now, and matched his straight, shoulder-length hair.

While Roam preferred to take a more heavy-handed approach to reining Link in, Zelda knew that she had to handle the young hero carefully. She could not just pull his leash tight and expect that it would bring him to heel instantly. He would resist at first, simply because he was adventurous and stubborn, unused to authority. She needed to train him slowly; eventually, he would learn. Having him behind her was important to keep her kingdom united and strong.

Zelda gave Roam a level look before turning to a gilded mirror hanging on the wall beside her and inspecting her reflection, ensuring her maidservants had not missed anything. "I have made my decision and will speak no more on the matter. Now, are there any other matters you wish to have addressed before I depart?"

The Commander of the Royal Knights sighed heavily in defeat, his tone a touch reproachful. "None, your majesty. The castle is in perfect order and will remain so until your return."

"Good." Zelda smiled brightly. "Now, would you care to escort me to my entourage?"

"It would be my pleasure, your majesty." Roam bowed with a deep flourish, offering his arm to the princess. She placed a hand just inside the crook of his elbow, and they walked side-by-side out of the sitting room. The liveried guards that had been flanking the door took up positions a pace behind them as they walked down the hallway outside of the royal apartments, Roam's heavy, booted footsteps drowning out the soft, dainty taps of Zelda's silvered slippers.

They walked in silence, which suited Zelda just fine. She was busy mentally reviewing the path her tour was going to be taking around Hyrule and listing the names of all the provinces, villages and places they were visiting along the way. Her father had taught her that the hallmark of a good monarch was the knowing of every inch of her kingdom; else how could one rule effectively? She intended on taking the opportunity that this tour presented to set a few other plans she had in motion as well; she had a number of proposals to set forth to the leaders of the goron and zora vassal states, and plans to present to the elders of the small village of Kakariko to develop it into a fully-fledged trade town, as a precursor to her negotiation of further trade treaties with the neighbouring nations of Cavalita and Labrynna.

Zelda intended on eliminating the weaknesses that had led her kingdom to disaster in the war against the Twilight, and consolidating her strengths. Link may have been there to save the kingdom from Ganon and his mad schemes ion that occasion, but she could not let the safety of her kingdom depend solely on the right person being in the right place at the right time. She had been chosen by the Goddesses themselves to bear the Triforce of Wisdom, and she intended on living up to that honour by being the best and wisest sovereign she could possibly be.

Lost in thought as she was, she barely noticed that they had already stepped out of the castle and into the front courtyard until Link, standing across the paved central area and checking his horse's saddle, raised a hand in greeting and stepped quickly over to meet them as they approached. The young knight was clad in one of the finest of the green tunics that Zelda had had made for him, and she was astonished to note that the matching cape also lay draped across his shoulders, which he had originally been adamant in his refusal to wear. She concealed her surprise quickly – perhaps the brash hero was already starting to come to heel.

"Princess. Commander." Link bowed stiffly to Zelda and gave a slight incline of his head for Roam before turning his attention back to the princess. "If you're ready to head out, we can leave whenever you wish. Lamri has been saddled and is waiting for you." He gestured across the courtyard to her personal retinue of maids and bodyguards, where a young stablehand held the reins of her favourite horse. Lamri was a stunning, tall mare of pure white, and her dusky saddle complimented the princess's riding dress perfectly. Zelda vastly preferred riding to sitting in a carriage, she liked being where her people could see her, and it was infinitely more comfortable.

"Thank you, Link." Zelda nodded, a warm smile on her face, before removing her hand from Roam's arm and turning to face the knight. "I leave the castle in your care, Commander." She curtsied delicately, and Roam reciprocated the gesture with one of his customary deep, flourishing bows.

"May the Goddesses watch over you, your majesty."

Turning on her heel, Zelda swept her eyes over the various people, horses, and covered wagons scattered about the courtyard. As Link had said, preparations seemed to have been completed and the entourage was just waiting to get moving. Her maidservants, fair Annoura and dark Zerah, were loitering near their matching dun geldings near to where Lamri stood, and a loose circle of already mounted Royal Knights were positioned around them. She recognised Bain and Talis, Link's friends, as well as a few of the others. Davian, with his long brown hair gathered at the nape of his neck with a length of cord and a long guisarme strapped to his back; fair-haired Guaire, with a more traditional sword and shield fastened to his; and Falion, one of the rare female knights, her sun-darkened face hard as she scanned the courtyard from under her black fringe, seemingly expecting danger at any moment even in the heart of Hyrule Castle itself.

Zelda surreptitiously watched Link and Roam from the corner of her eye as she approached Lamri, murmuring a word of thanks as the stablehand presented the reins to her and bowed away once she took them. The two knights exchanged a few brief words before they saluted each other, and then turned on their heels – Link striding back towards Epona and Commander Roam towards the castle's entrance. Zelda was too far away to overhear, but a single glimpse of Roam's stony expression as he walked away spoke volumes of the contents of the discussion.

Suppressing a sigh, she stepped lightly up onto the mounting block that a liveried servant placed by Lamri's left flank. A few moments later and she was settling comfortably into the saddle, arranging her skirts carefully. Looking up at the smooth, masoned walls of Hyrule Castle, Zelda noticed a dark figure, silhouetted against the morning light, watching from one of the ornate balconies set high in the walls – at this distance, had Tuli not been wearing her tall, pointed wizzrobe hat Zelda might not have recognised her. The scholar gave no sign that she had noticed Zelda looking at her, instead choosing simply to watch, silent and motionless, from her vantage point.

Facing forward once again, Princess Zelda held up a gloved hand to signal that she was ready to leave. A few shouted orders from Link, repeated by several lower-ranking knights, later and they were moving in a slow procession across the stone bridge across the castle moat. The bridge guards knelt respectfully as she rode past them, her and her maidservants surrounded by a personal guard of six Royal Knights. As they passed into the central square of Hyrule Market Town, a cheer went up from the crowd of gathered onlookers, and she waved and smiled warmly to her loyal subjects.

Zelda didn't need to force her smile – seeing her people so jubilant and delighted over her presence was more than enough to fill her with a glowing sense of pride and accomplishment. She basked in the adoration of her people as she rode, and Lamri seemed to sense her mood, the mare practically prancing as they passed through the crowd.

The procession wound its way through the streets, drawing a massive throng of people made up of what seemed to Zelda like the entire population of the town. Despite the massive press of people, the crowd parted easily enough to let her entourage pass. The tightly-packed mass spilled out onto the eastern stone bridge that led out into the wide fields of Eldin Province as Zelda and her escort left the walls of the town, and Zelda could hear their cheers until the town was completely out of sight behind them.

While mostly everyone else in the convoy was staying in one position, Link was riding up and down the line constantly, barking a few quick orders here and there to soldiers to get them to tighten up or spread out more, his eyes constantly scanning the horizon as he wheeled Epona around with an expert hand. He seemed to be taking his role in this undertaking very seriously, which was a welcome change. He looked rather dashing in his full dress, as well, with his well-polished sword and shield strapped to his back, his forest-green tunic with golden embroidery that shined in the sunlight, and his olive cape streaming behind him whenever an errant gust of wind picked it up.

Zelda's smile gradually faded as she returned to her thoughts regarding the plans she was putting in place. If all went as smoothly as it should, Hyrule would be strengthened and prosper under her rule, which was something she wanted more than anything else in this world. The cheering crowds from the town were her confirmation that she was on the right track so far, but one misstep might turn those cheers into boos and bring everything crashing down around her head.

She took a deep breath in, drinking in the smells of the wide open expanse of Hyrule Field, and banished all negativity from her thoughts. There would be time enough to stress and worry later on if things didn't turn out exactly right; right now, all she needed to do was relax and look forward to her tour of her kingdom.

- - - - - -

Taking off his cracked leather gauntlets and placing them on a nearby clear bookshelf, Link wiped his sweaty palms against the pitch-black fabric of his tunic before picking the book he had been examining back up. He flicked through the pages quickly, his sunken eyes scanning rapidly, looking for any references to the Ocarina of Time or the Sages. Piles of discarded tomes and manuscripts lay strewn across the narrow space between the normally immaculate mahogany bookshelves, where he had discarded them. Link ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair as he read and immediately regretted it, reaching down again and wiping off the layer of grease his hand had acquired.

Sighing laboriously, he snapped the book shut and tossed it over his shoulder and leant back against one of the bookshelves. The wood gave a warning creak, but he paid it no heed, closing his eyes and putting his hands up to cover his face. The fine coating of coarse whiskers his sallow cheeks and chin had acquired tickled the edges of his bare hands, but he ignored that too, moving slightly to shift the weight of the Master Sword strapped uncomfortably to his back.

He had spent countless days searching the labyrinthine corridors of Hyrule Castle library to no avail. The part of the library he now found himself in was dark, lit only by a dull ambient glow that seemed to permeate the air, with a high vaulted roof of dark masoned stone.

There was nothing further he could learn here. Nothing that would help him to fix the timestream, in any case. As far as he could see, there was only one last thing he could try and hope for the best. At this point, it wasn't feasible for him to continue his search for Midna. The timeline was too damaged, and when he travelled back nothing was as he remembered it. Of course, he had travelled back in time numerous times before to try to fix the messes he had made, but each time he did it seemed he only made matters worse.

There didn't seem to be any other way. This was his last resort. He was unsure of what exactly would happen to him if he was successful, or if it would even work – it was possible that the timestream was beyond repair at this stage. If that was the case, however, then he no longer had anything to lose by making the attempt. It may not even be a real option; it was so ridiculously hard to discover melodies that would allow him to travel to specific time periods that it almost seemed pointless to try.

Only one person possessed such a breadth of knowledge regarding the Ocarina of Time that she may know how to puzzle out a tune that would serve his purposes. The Archmage. It was improbable that she would help him, but there was a chance, though, however slight, that she might. Link grabbed his gauntlets from the shelf, securing them tightly before reaching into one of his numerous belt pouches and withdrawing the Ocarina of Time. There didn't seem any sense in delaying his visit to her any longer.

He stared at the small, ceramic instrument thoughtfully for a few moments before licking his chapped lips and raising the mouthpiece to his face. Despite his haggard appearance, the notes he blew were precise and did not quaver, and his fingers moved quickly and smoothly to cover the appropriate holes as he played. The mournful notes of the Threnody of Regret, an aptly named melody, considering to whom it was taking him, echoed through the narrow corridors of the library.

Link closed his eyes and let the magic of the Ocarina envelop him in a swirl of deep orange energy, and when he opened them again he was somewhere else. He didn't really know exactly where it was the Archmage made her home – he had only ever come and gone from here once before, and that had been via Ocarina then as well. His guess, though, judging from the architecture, was somewhere near or inside the Arbiter's Grounds.

Stepping down from the raised stone dais that dominated the centre of the room, he quickly strode over to the door in the wall that was to the left of the massive Triforce symbol emblazoned upon the platform he had teleported onto. He needed to move quickly, and didn't have time to enjoy the scenery. Through the door, down a hall and a single, wide flight of stairs, and Link was standing in front of a heavy, iron-bound hardwood door. It looked out of place wedged into the design of the seemingly Gerudo-built complex, and, having been here before, he knew that the personal study of the person he sought lay beyond it.

Link paused and took a deep breath before he turned the handle and swung open the heavy door. It opened up into an average-sized room, perhaps twenty feet to a side. An orb of blue light suspended from the middle of the ceiling bathed the room in a cool glow – despite the steady light, the shadows in the room moved surreally whenever he wasn't watching, and he half-glimpsed the strange shapes they formed from the corner of his eye before they became still and solid the second he tried to focus on them.

A mahogany writing desk stood in the far corner of the room, and the entire length of wall to Link's left was covered by bookshelves filled with a selection of ancient tomes and manuscripts. The room's black-robed occupant didn't turn when he entered the room – he had likely triggered a half-dozen magical alarms on his way here, and he had no doubt that if she hadn't wanted him to make it this far, he probably wouldn't have. He took note of the long, gnarled ashwood staff that the Archmage's held lightly in one hand – her long, brown hair hung lower than he remembered as well, reaching down past her waist. She had changed so much; it was hard to really think of her as anything other than 'the Archmage'.

"How _dare_ you. After all you have wrought, you still have the audacity to show your face here?" The Archmage's voice was low, with a dangerous edge to it.

"I… need your help." Link was starting to think that he had been too quick to come straight here. It was too late to change tack now, but perhaps he should have thought things through a bit better.

"And why would _I_ want to help _you_?" Her voice a venomous hiss, the black-robed figure spun to face him. Even now, Link had to suppress a wince as the Archmage's ruined features came into view. She had been quite beautiful once, a long time ago, but now the right side of her face was nothing more than a mass of horrific scars and never-quite-healed burnt flesh. "For that matter, perhaps you should give me a reason not take this opportunity to finally rid the world of your presence?" She raised her staff threateningly.

Link took up an industrious study of the Archmage's elaborate jewellery, avoiding looking directly at her face. She had taken to wearing a lot of gold these days – a trio of intricate necklaces of varying lengths hung around her neck, a match for the numerous bracelets around her wrists, and her fingers were covered with a fortune in golden, gem-encrusted rings.

"None know the secrets of the Ocarina better than you do. Only you can compose a melody that will enable me to travel back and stop all of this before it happened." Link raised his eyes just long enough to meet the Archmage's glare with a look of defiance. "If I can travel back to just before I originally obtained the accursed instrument, I could stop myself from acquiring it and prevent any of this from happening." And if in the doing he was not erased from existence, maybe he would be able to finally find Midna. He would be more careful, this time around.

"You've given up?" The Archmage's tone was guarded. She, better than almost anyone, knew how much he had sacrificed in his search for Midna.

"The price was too high. Beyond anything that I imagined." Too high, but he would pay it again if he must, though she could not know that or she would not be seriously considering his proposition.

The disfigured spellcaster was silent for a long time, her expression considering, before she finally gave a rasping, rueful laugh. "It will take time."

"Time is the one thing I have in abundance."

Her face impassive, the Archmage nodded curtly. "Very well. I will contact you when I have finished my composition, and we will go back _together_ to fix this." She waved her free hand vaguely is a gesture of dismissal. "Now leave me. If I am to do this, I need peace and quiet."

The Archmage's reluctance to trust him was understandable. He could not have her interfering with his objectives. If he allowed her to travel back with him, it was likely that after he succeeded in preventing his past self's acquisition of the Ocarina she would not let him continue to use the artifact as he pleased. It was regrettable that it was going to have to come to it, but once she had finished composing her latest melody and he had it firmly in hand, she would need to be dealt with.

Link turned and walked back through the open doorway, taking hold of the doorhandle as he passed through the frame and began to pull it closed behind him. He paused halfway through and looked back over his shoulder at his one-time friend, taking in a full view of her scarred countenance with a sad smile on his face. "Thank you… Tuli."


	6. Chapter 5

_Chapter Five_

Dusk was approaching as Princess Zelda's entourage made its way through the narrow pass leading into Kakariko Village from the north, and Link made one final circuit of the wagons before spurring Epona to the front of the column, rubbing his eyes tiredly. The young knight didn't pay much heed to his surroundings as they passed through the open gate leading into the village; he had been here not more than a fortnight ago, and there wasn't much that had changed in that short space of time.

Much of Kakariko's derelict buildings had been refurbished over the last few months, and its population, drastically reduced during the Twilight invasion, had been replenished by a steady trickle of immigrants from other parts of the kingdom. Since Ganon's death, the former occupants of the village had quickly been replaced by refugees whose homes had been burnt and pillaged and were looking for somewhere to start a new life.

The horses and wagons threw up clouds of dust as they made their way through the central thoroughfare of the village, scattering the handful of stray cuccos that always seemed to be milling around the street. A small crowd of the village's inhabitants had gathered in the street to watch the procession as it past, with a few cheers heard from them, but the reception was nothing compared to Castle Town. Still, there were smiles on the faces Link could see, and although the tone was much more subdued here – possibly due to the time of day – it seemed as though everyone was happy to see the Princess.

A number of gorons dotted the street as well; it was likely a messenger had already been dispatched to the goron elders to inform them of the Princess's arrival. With Kakariko being built in the pass that connected Death Mountain to the rest of Hyrule, the presence of the hulking, stonelike people was a common sight. The goron vassal state maintained strong trade with almost every other settlement in Hyrule; their impressive physical strength made them fantastic labourers, and their knowledge of stone and metals was second to none.

Renado, the village shaman, and the rest of the Kakariko elders approached up the middle of the road, coming from the opposite direction, and Link motioned to those behind him to allow the Princess to reach the front so she could meet them. The dark-skinned shaman wore a welcoming smile on his large-featured face, and he nodded a greeting to Link as he caught his eye.

Link's olive-green cape tangled in his legs as his dismounted, and he muttered an oath under his breath, managing to restrain himself from shooting a glare in Zelda's direction as she stepped down from Lamri smoothly. He felt a fool wearing the thing, but for some undiscernible reason the Princess seemed to think it was appropriate garb for a high-ranking knight. She appeared not to have noticed that he was wearing it even after his previously adamant refusal to, which grated on him even more. The woman was positively infuriating sometimes.

The way Zelda glided effortlessly and confidently as she moved towards the now-kneeling village elders, Link wouldn't have guessed that she had just spent better than ten hours in the saddle with minimal breaks if he hadn't been right there with her. He fell in a pace behind and to the left of her, with the six knights who had been her honour guard just behind him, all standing straight and alert as she smiled and exchanged words with the elders.

"Greetings, elders. Please, rise."

The elders stood slowly, with Renado offering a bow as he did so. "We humbly welcome you to our village, your majesty. I am Renado, the village shaman and leader of our village."

"The pleasure is all mine. It gladdens my heart to see the citizens of Kakariko prospering after all this village has suffered."

"Thank you, Princess." Renado looked towards where the Princess's escort was pulling off to the side of the main street and unloading the contents of the canvas-covered wagons. "I would imagine you must be fatigued from your long ride; my daughter Luda will show you to the Elde Inn – I'm afraid it isn't what you're used to, but they are the best we have to offer, your majesty." As he name was mentioned, the shaman's black-haired daughter scampered out from the crowd and curtsied awkwardly to Zelda, her eyes averted.

"That would be perfect, thank you, Renado. It has indeed been a long day, and we would be honoured if you would be able to offer accommodations for my maidservants and Link as well, I would be most appreciative. The rest of my entourage have their own tents to set up for the night."

"Of course, your majesty." Renado nodded slightly.

"I will meet with you and the other elders properly in the morning, we have a number of things to discuss, and I would like to have a tour of the village arranged for afterwards. The day after tomorrow I shall head up to meet with the goron elders."

"Very well, your majesty. We are also planning a celebration feast in your honour for tomorrow night."

Zelda gave a soft, tinkling laugh and inclined her head. "That would be wonderful. I am honoured."

Turning to his daughter, Renado gestured quickly towards the other end of the road. "Luda, please show Princess Zelda and Link to their rooms in the Inn." He quickly turned back to face Zelda.

The Princess regarding him for a brief moment before nodding slightly, a warm smile brightening her face once more. "Until tomorrow, then."

Renado bowed deeply. "Until tomorrow, your majesty."

With that, Link stepped forward and touched Zelda's arm lightly. She turned in surprise, a questioning look on her face as he spoke. "I will catch up later. I have something I want to do. I've already given the knights and soldiers their orders regarding the guard for this evening."

Princess Zelda opened her mouth, but there was a slight delay before she replied. "Very well, Link. I will send for you if you are needed."

Nodding, Link moved away from the group of people, heading towards the southern end of town as Zelda and her personal guard was led towards the Elde Inn, Renado staying on to talk to some of the villagers. A black and white speckled cucco scuttled out of his path as he strolled down the dusty street, clucking softly. There wasn't much daylight left at all, he would need to make this quick.

It didn't take him long to reach his destination, which sat just past the southernmost house of the village – the decent-sized dwelling actually belong to Renado himself, and served double duty as a meeting place for the village elders. The pure spring past the house belonged to the Light Spirit, Eldin, who had been assigned to be the guardian of this province by the Goddesses themselves in ages past.

Walking out into the shallow water carefully, Link knelt down and dipped a gauntleted hand into the cool, crystal-clear liquid. He could feel the life-giving properties of the spring permeating his body even from this slight amount of contact, and he relaxed his shoulders as it soothed his travel-weary body. He didn't expect the golden owl of Eldin to appear to him – all of the Light Spirits had gone silent ever since Ganon's defeat – but even so, Link still closed his eyes and took a moment to give thanks and acknowledge the part they had played in the lifting of the Ganon's evil taint.

"Looks like I chose a good time to get back into Kakariko, yeah?"

Link straightened quickly and turned around, his eyebrows raised in surprise at the familiar voice. "Ashei! Good to see you." He raised his fist to his chest, saluting her as he would a Royal Knight. Her father had been one, and he had trained her in their ways before he had passed away.

The raven-haired adventurer, standing at the water's edge, returned the gesture before she resumed her previous stance, her arms folded and her hips set at a jaunty angle, regarding him with a small smile. "You too, hero. We haven't really had a chance to catch up in a good long while." She wore her usual heavily-modified cuirass – it looked more like a gold-enamelled metal corset then anything else – along with matching greaves and heavy armor plate along one arm. A thin sword hung at her hip, and crimson embroidered leggings clung tight to her shapely thighs. A black and white vertically-striped shirt sat underneath her armor and was pulled tight across her modest bust, which was pushed upwards and emphasised by the top of the cuirass.

"That's an understatement. Once you and the Group finished exploring the Sacred Grove you dropped off the map – where have you been?"

Ashei shrugged nonchalantly. "Ah, here and there, you know? Just around. How's life in the Knights of Hyrule treating ya?"

"Good." Link scratched the back of his head as he casually walked up to where Ashei stood, glancing down at the sword at her hip. "There's something I've been meaning to say to you. I have the authority to initiate new recruits into the order. You'd pass the tests to become a fully-fledged knight right away, I just know it – just say the word and you'll be a Royal Knight within a week."

A distant expression passed over her face, but after a few seconds of silence she banished it with a quick shake of her head. "Link… thanks. It means a lot to me that you'd offer me that, but no." Shrugging again, she gave a small laugh. "Not my style, yeah? I prefer to be able to come and go as I please. I'll keep your offer in mind if I ever change my mind, though."

"No problem." Link smiled wryly. "You know, I envy you a little bit."

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what you said just then… being able to come and go as you please." He sighed and looked away, gazing out over the still waters of the Light Spirit's spring. "The responsibilities of a Royal Knight can be pretty frustrating. Sometimes I wish I had just stayed out of it after Ganon was defeated."

"We all make bad decisions, yeah?"

"I suppose." He tried to make his voice sound upbeat, but knew that he had failed miserably even before he started. "I have to head back. Duty calls. You sticking around?"

"I suppose." Her tone was a mocking imitation of his own. "I heard there's going to be a big party tomorrow night, yeah? Wouldn't want to pass up the opportunity for some good food and wine, so I guess I'll stay in town for a little bit."

"Are you staying at the inn?"

"You kidding? The place is off-limits at the moment, reserved for her highness. I'm no stranger to roughing it, though."

"You can take my room in the inn, if you'd like. I spent last night in my quarters in the castle. It's been a good while since I've had to sleep outside."

"Thanks, but you enjoy your nice warm bed for tonight. I'll see you around, yeah?"

"Yeah." Link gave another wry smile as she turned and strode away into the night, heading down the path leading away from Kakariko. Despite her bluntness, Ashei was a good person; a member of the Group that had been working to restore peace to Hyrule during the Twilight invasion, and Link genuinely admired her. She didn't let anyone else tell her where to go or what to do, and she looked out for the wellbeing of people who weren't strong enough to do it themselves without asking anything in return. She embodied the ideals that Link strove towards.

Looking up, he realised the sun had completely sunk beneath the horizon, and he could only see by virtue of the moonlight and the few lights from the village ahead. Zelda probably would not have needed to see him tonight about anything, but if she had he would cop an earful from her in the morning. Luckily, he should be free to do his own thing while she was holed up with the village elders, or so he hoped, at least. Surely she wouldn't make him sit in on their discussions? It seemed like something she would do. Sighing once more, he trudged back to the village – even though the Light Spirit's spring had cleansed his body, he still felt weary to the bone.

- - - - - -

Black and purple energy crackled as Tuli's unstable spell detonated with a shock great enough to rock the foundation of the eastern wing of Hyrule Castle. The backlash of magical energy flung the scholar backwards like a rag doll as she let out a choked shriek of surprised, tossing her across the room to land on her writing table, scattering the manuscripts and parchment piled on it. The strong wood collapsed under the force of the impact, smashing the desk into so much kindling beneath her, and she lay still for a moment, blinking in shock.

After a few seconds, she scrambled to her hands and knees and crawled back towards the space she had been using on her floor for her experiments. She could barely move – every inch of her body felt like it had been pulverized by the explosion and subsequent collision with the desk, but she didn't think she had done herself any permanent injury; besides, she had to know if her efforts had paid off.

The Twili rune she had drawn on the floor using a stick of chalk was now etched deep into the hard wood, black scorch marks radiating out from it. Reaching out, Tuli gingerly ran a finger over the edge of the symbol before turning her attention back to what remained of the Shadow Crystal itself, sitting in the middle of the burnt wood. It had lost its shape completely, now appearing more like an amorphous lump of black melted glass than anything else, but Tuli could feel the resonance of the Twilight magic pulsing within it – she had succeeded, the connection with the Twilight Realm had been restored.

Only a scant minute or two had passed since the magical detonation before the door to her room crashed open, liveried guardsmen almost tripping over each other as they burst into the small apartment. She paid the confused soldiers little heed as she punched the air with a small cry of victory before crumpling face-first to the ground.

- - - - - -

Shadows played along the building facades on either side of the street from the two huge cookfires that dominated the central street of Kakariko Village. The aromatic scents of spiced meat and the sounds of merriment filled the air; a number of long log benches had been set up on the edges of the fire's heat and were crammed with the local villagers partaking in the free-flowing mulled wine.

Link had spent most of the day just kicking back and catching up with a few of the villagers that he knew. Malo was still running a brisk trade, and had seemed pleased once he had learned that the princess had plans for turning Kakariko into a major trading post. Barnes was doing well, too – there was a high demand from the goron mines for his explosives.

Princess Zelda was sitting regally on a cushioned stool of her own with the village elders – Link had been keeping an eye on her since the celebrations had begun, but she seemed to be enjoying herself well enough, so after a little while he wandered away. Stalking the edges of the party, the young knight scanned the crowd intently before smiling faintly as the person he had been looking for raised a hand and waved him over.

Ashei chuckled from her seat as he made his way over, offering him a large mug brimming with mulled wine once he drew close enough to take it. "Come down here and have a drink with me, hero."

"Sure." Link grinned, taking a swig of the spiced mixture. It was his third for the night, and he was starting to feel slightly unsteady, but he half-drained the mug anyway. Traces of cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon filled his mouth along with the heady, warm wine, and he planted himself down next to the raven-haired adventurer as she scooted over to make room for him.

"I haven't had good wine in weeks! Bet all you have to do in the castle is crook your little finger and a servant comes running with a glass, yeah?"

The knight gave a short laugh. "Something like that. It can be kind of weird sometimes, with all the servants always around and everyone knowing who you are."

"I'm sure it takes a bit of getting used to. Tell you what, I wouldn't mind haven't a couple of servants waiting on me hand and foot; beats sleeping on the dirt, yeah?"

"It does at that." Link shook his head wryly, cupping his mug in both hands as he spoke. "Do you keep in contact with the others much still?"

Ashei shrugged. "Occasionally. Shad spends all his time with those freaky bird things, so it's hard to catch him. Auru is out in the Gerudo Desert somewhere at the moment; I'm not really sure what he's doing out there. Rusl pretty much hasn't left Ordon since the attack on Hyrule Castle. Family to look after, yeah?"

Nodding, Link took another swallow of his wine then wiped his mouth with the edge of one of his leather gauntlets. "Yeah, I know. I see him whenever I head down that way."

Suddenly a heavy hand thudded down onto Link's shoulder, and Bain was squatting down at the end of the log bench next to him, his long fiery-red hair hanging loose and a pint of wine in his free hand. "Being in the Princess's escort ain't all bad, hey Link?" He flashed Ashei a grin. "I don't think we've met yet. Name's Bain."

The adventurer narrowed her eyes slightly and gave a curt nod. "Ashei."

"Ah, I've heard of you. You helped out Link during his attack on Hyrule Castle during the Twilight Invasion, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"Okay…" Nonplussed by Ashei's unresponsiveness, the red-haired knight turned back to Link. "So, are we gonna get to see you wrestle a goron when we head up to Death Mountain tomorrow? That's some serious muscles you got there, to be able to match a goron."

Link shifted his mug from one hand to another, looking down into it. "I don't know." He felt slightly abashed at having drunk as much as he had, and wanted to be careful about anything he said. He'd heard some stories from the other knights of fool things they had done after having a drink too many, and he had never really had more than one mug in one evening before. Ashei being there didn't bother him at all, he felt comfortable around her, but he didn't particularly want to embarrass himself in front of the lower-ranking knights.

Nodding thoughtfully, Ashei gestured with her free hand, "I've heard that you beat Gor Coron in a wrestling match once."

"I would like to see that, I think." The soft voice from behind startled Link slightly, and he turned to see Zelda standing behind them, a bemused expression on her face.

Bain stumbled to his feet and stood bolt upright, his face colouring slightly. "Princess! I'm sorry, your majesty, I didn't see you there."

"It's alright." The princess inclined her head slightly, the bemused expression remaining in place as she studied Link. "I hear that Elder Gor Coron used to be a champion sumo-wrestler among his people; I'd be curious to see how a human would be able to match up to his raw physical strength."

Link looked down into his mug again, and was surprised to see he had already emptied it. Was the rest of the entourage going to show up too? Having everyone focused on him wasn't helping his increasing self-consciousness, either. "I uh, used to wrassle goats."

Bain burst out laughing, almost spilling his drink as he clutched at his side with his free hand; Zelda chuckled slightly and covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes twinkling. Even Ashei snorted and shook her head before taking another swig of her drink.

Link's face burned as he stood stiffly. "I'll be back." He shook his mug to emphasize its emptiness and stepped back over the log bench, being especially careful not to catch his foot. He inclined his head slightly to Zelda as he shuffled past her – she still had that same amused expression on her face. "If you'll excuse me, princess."

Relieved to have gotten away from the group, Link discarded his mug on a nearby bench as he picked his way down the street. He hadn't been planning on sticking around for very long during the celebration, anyway; wine and talk was all well and good, but there was somewhere he'd much prefer to spend some time. No one seemed to notice him as he slipped away from the crowds, which was for the best.

The rough steps leading up to the hot springs above the Elde Inn were cut into the living rock of the cliff itself, and worn from years of constant use. Link breathed deeply as he reached the top, taking in the mineral-rich scent of the steaming water. The hot springs were completely empty at the moment, as he had expected them to be – everyone was down in the village proper partaking of the celebration in Zelda's honour. It was a rare occasion to get this degree of privacy while enjoying the springs, and he intended on enjoying it while it lasted.

Pulling off a gauntlet, Link knelt close to the water's edge and dipped his hand gently into the hot liquid. The waters of the Light Spirit's spring were soothing, true, but they lacked the ability to relieve tension and stress the way the hot springs themselves did. It had been far too long since the last time he had taken the time to relax here. Looking around, Link picked out a secluded spot where he wouldn't be noticed even if someone did decide to come up.

The young knight stumbled slightly on the uneven ground as he made his way over to a nearby rock and clumsily started to strip off his clothes, placing them in a haphazard heap atop the outcropping and leaning his sword scabbard and shield against the side next to his thick leather boots. His head felt light, and as he struggled with his tunic he dimly noted that he probably shouldn't have drained that last mug of spiced wine as quickly as he had. A minute or two later he was standing in nothing but his skin, goosepimples forming in the cool night air despite the warmth of the nearby hot spring.

The watery reflections of the moon and stars rippled as he eased himself bit-by-bit into the spring, feeling around in the water for a ledge he could use as a seat. Finding what he was looking for, he sighed contentedly and leant back against the edge of the spring, letting the hot liquid cover him completely up to the base of his neck as he felt the tension from his shoulders and back dissolving.

He hadn't been there long before a noise caught his attention, causing him to straighten up and scan the darkness. His senses may have been slightly muddled by alcohol, but he was fairly sure he had heard footsteps. Despite straining his eyes, it was too dark to see much beyond the edge of the water, except for the silhouettes of the rocky outcroppings around the springs. Movement caught his eye, near to where he had left his clothes and equipment, and a rustle of material and the clink of metal on metal made him feel around carefully for a rock he could use as a weapon while his eyes remained locked on the dark shape that was now heading slowly towards the waters edge.

A few more feet closer and his breath caught in his throat as the shadowy figure resolved into a curvaceous body as naked as he was, and he quickly averted his eyes, feeling his face grow hot as she drew close enough for him to make out her features. "Ashei!"

"Hey hero, did I scare you?"

Link felt the water shift as she gracefully lowered herself into the hotspring, and was careful not to look in her direction. "No, I just, uh… What are you doing here? I can go." He moved backwards as if to get up, but stopped with the water waist-high on him as he realised he would be exposing himself fully to her if he went a step further. He froze there, half-standing, unsure of what to do.

"Nah, you don't need to go anywhere; I was up here looking for you." Her voice held a tone of wry amusement, as it always seemed to when she spoke to him.

The water shifted again, and he risked a glance up at her. "Oh. Um." She was in the middle of the spring now, a scant six feet away from him, and had lowered herself enough that only the very tops of her breasts were visible above the water. He gingerly slid back down to the ledge he had been sitting on, watching her out of the corner of his eye. He swallowed, hard. Her pitch-black hair hung heavy and straight, loose of its usual braids. With her shoulders exposed to the moonlight it was hard not to notice how beautiful she was.

"What's wrong, hero?" Ashei glided over to him, and he pressed himself against the stone wall behind him as she drew closer. Suddenly she was straddled him, her knees resting on the stone ledge to either side of his thighs, her body pressed against his, with her full breasts completely exposed and a firm hand at the back of his head guiding his mouth to hers. Link quite literally had no idea what to do. No one had ever kissed him like this before, and to begin with his face was wooden as her lips and tongue worked his. He tried to avoid kissing back, but after a little while he couldn't help it.

After what seemed like an age, Ashei pulled back and let him gasp for air. "Ashei, I… this, we shouldn't. I'm not… _you're_ not…" His breath was coming hard and fast now, and his heart felt about ready to leap from his chest face. He hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt, because right now it felt hotter than the volcanic depths of Death Mountain. Her breasts were sitting just below his eye level now, and he fought to keep his eyes and face pointing up towards hers.

Ashei chuckled before pulling his head forward slightly, nuzzling the top of his ear softly with her nose. "It's ok. I know you're pining over that Midna chit, but it's not like you can't have some fun in the meantime, yeah? I'm not after anything else. This is just two friends who haven't seen each other in a while having a bit of fun, nothing more." Her teeth and tongue teased his earlobe lightly.

"But-"

Ashei cut him off, not giving him another chance to protest, her breath hot in his ear. "I've already drained a cup of flatwort tea, yeah? The stuff's expensive; it would be a shame to have wasted it." She started to nibble on his neck, high near his ear at first, then slowly made her way down to his shoulder. Flatwort tea. A contraceptive. Link had heard someone mention it before; had it been Rusl? A woman could drink a cup before she… and there was no risk of… his thoughts trailed off, unable to fully comprehend the situation.

He tried to focus, but the wine wasn't making it easy for him to think straight, and with Ashei biting his neck like that his brain wasn't the only part of his body trying to give orders. Link struggled mentally for a few seconds more before his resolved collapsed entirely and his hands crept up nervously to rest on her hips. "I'm not… uh; I've never done anything like this before." If it were possible, Link's face would have grown hotter. Vaguely he regretted not listening to Bain's stories of his conquests more closely; if he had he may have had some idea of what he was doing.

The raven-haired adventurer stopped what she was doing and leant back slightly, giving a short laugh as she did so. The amusement in her voice was plain. "That's fine. _I_ know what I'm doing. You just relax and enjoy. Don't enjoy _too_ much just yet, mind." Her grin turned into an exaggerated frown briefly, and she tapped him lightly on the nose with her index finger before the mischievous smile returned. "I plan on having you up here for a few hours yet."


	7. Chapter 6

_Chapter Six_

Link stifled a yawn, forcing the heavy lids of his eyes to stay open as he glanced over the rest of the escort in an attempt to distract himself from how tired he was. The group was fairly small, only about twenty of them all told – they had left the majority of the entourage back in Kakariko, including all of the regular soldiery. The current escort consisted only of the princess's personal attendants and the Royal Knights themselves.

A trio of goron emissaries had met them in the village this morning, and now walked at the front of the group, deliberately limiting their long strides so as not to leave the smaller hylians behind. Despite their hunched posture, the guides still stood at least two hands taller than anyone else in the retinue, and moved with a grace that belied their massive stature over the uneven stone.

The rugged path was more than a little treacherous, too much so to risk bringing horses along, and Link allowed himself a small sense of satisfaction every time he saw Zelda trip or stumble on the uneven ground. He had tried to tell her that she wasn't dressed appropriately for navigating rough terrain, but she had insisted that she needed to properly present herself to the goron patriarch and elders. There seemed little chance of that now – the hem of her white gown was covered in light brown dirt and dust from the trail, and dark patches of sweat were visible under her armpits and down her back. It was quite a hike up to the goron stronghold and mines, and the Princess was obviously not used to physical exertion. As he watched she shot him a defiant look, daring him to say anything. He simply smiled back before looking ahead to the goron guides once again. Luckily for her, they were already more than three-quarters of the way up and it wouldn't be too much longer before they arrived.

Ashei had decided to come along, as well, and she trudged along on the other side of the group next to some of the other Royal Knights. His gaze lingered on the adventurer for a little while, and when she noticed him looking over at her she flashed him a grin. Link turned his head to hide the hot flush that crept across his face; memories of the previous night rushing through his mind. Next to him, Bain coughed quietly to get his attention. The red-haired knight glanced over at Ashei, then looked back at Link and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Link shook his head and focused his gaze firmly on the ground in front of him, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and ignoring his companion. He didn't particularly want to talk to anyone about last night. Luckily, Bain was the only one so far who had noticed Link acting oddly around Ashei this morning – he didn't think he could stand it if Zelda noticed and decided to make a comment.

His respect for Ashei hadn't lessened at all – thinking about it afterwards, it was perfectly in character for her – but he felt ashamed that he had given in to her advances so easily, with only the barest hint of a struggle. Silently, he made a vow never to drink more than one mug of wine in a single evening again. He pushed away thoughts of running his hands over Ashei's bare flesh and turned his mind instead to Tuli's research.

How much longer would it be before all this time and effort he had spent paid off and he was able to see Midna again? Months and months had passed by with no firm leads, no solid steps to take. It frustrated him. When he had been with Midna she had always been able to see the next step, to show him what needed to be done. Now, alone, he was lost, with no clues whatsoever as to what he was supposed to do.

The two trains of thought mingled briefly, and he found himself wondering what it would be like to be with Midna like he had been with Ashei last night. Had the Twili princess been with anyone before? The fact that he hoped she hadn't made him feel even guiltier. Not only was he weak-willed, but he was a hypocrite as well.

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. The procession reached the goron stronghold soon enough, with the princess somehow managing not to appear too dishevelled when they met with the four goron elders. None of them had changed much, since Link had last seen them. Gor Coron was the largest of the four elders, with purple markings painted on the round belly that bulged out above his loincloth, and he greeted the young knight warmly. The former sumo champion had taken charge of the goron people when Darbus had been infected by the twilight magic of the Fused Shadow, and despite the other elders appearing to be much older than him they still seemed to defer to his judgement. Link still couldn't tell whether the long dreadlocks down Gor Ebizo's back were made of hair or rock, but then again he wasn't particularly curious about the nuances of goron physiology. Gor Amato was leaning on his cane more heavily than he had when Link had last seen him, the vents on the small, wrinkled goron's back and head expelling small wisps of smoke as he greeted them. From what the young knight could tell, Gor Liggs appeared to be the closest the gorons had to a shaman or wizard, although his laid back attitude, bizarre feathered headdress, dark body paint and peculiar movements made him the strangest Link had ever met.

Directly after the elders, the goron patriarch himself approached, bowing deeply to Princess Zelda. Darbus was massive – a towering mountain of a goron easily as wide as he was tall – with rocky outcroppings around his wrists, across his shoulders and down his back. Despite his fearsome appearance, Link knew that Darbus was kind at heart, and would not hesitate to help anyone in need. The goron patriarch gave a short, booming laugh and slapped the young knight on the back heartily as he welcomed him, almost knocking Link from his feet, and they all made their way into the grand hall where they would spend the next few hours discussing matters of state.

Link enviously watched Ashei disappear down a side corridor as he sat cross-legged on one of the stone floor mats the gorons used instead of chairs, settling in for the long haul. He was excluded from much of the conversation, which suited him fine, and he let his mind wander as the princess and the goron leaders spoke.

A young goron brought a tray with a pair of ceramic pitchers on it, and after a little thought Link gestured to the water instead of the wine, draining the full cup he was handed before the goron even finished serving the rest of the group. It had been a long hike this morning, and even though it wasn't particularly hot outside he had still worked up a sweat. The rest of the knights had either remained outside or stood at the far end of the hall mingling with some of the gorons – after a while he considered getting up and joining them, but dismissed the idea quickly after a glance at Princess Zelda.

The hall itself was carved into the living rock of Death Mountain and had a high, vaulted ceiling held up by thick, carved columns. At the far end, near where the knights were gathered, sat a circular, raised section of floor; a sumo ring. The walls were of intricate stonework, overlaid in places by paint of red or blue, and the room was lit by a series of iron braziers. The braziers were placed strategically to provide the most light to the hall, without a concern for heating – the entire stronghold was heated by thermal vents directing air from the deeper, more actively volcanic parts of the mountain. Those volcanic sections often overlapped with the extensive network of mines that the gorons had latticed the mountain with, and Link had visited many of them himself during his efforts to release Darbus from the influence of the Fused Shadow.

He could feel his legs going to sleep as the talks dragged on, and he shifted uncomfortably every so often to try to relieve the restricted blood flow. At some point he saw Ashei slip back into the hall to stand near where the Royal Knights were gathered, leaning back against a wall after snagging one of the mugs off the trays of refreshments that had been placed on a low stone table for the knights. Link scowled as Bain walked over to her and attempted to drum up some conversation, appearing to garner some success – Ashei didn't seem to be as stand-offish with him as she had the previous night, for some reason. He hoped she didn't say anything that would tell Bain what had happened last night.

"-isn't that right, Link?"

"Hm?" Link turned back to face Zelda with a blank expression on his face. He had been paying no attention to the conversation whatsoever, and his sudden inclusion by the princess had caught him off guard.

Zelda's eyes grew harder, but she did a remarkable job of hiding her annoyance and repeated herself calmly. "I said that just last night we had been talking about wrestling and the possibility of a rematch with Gor Coron, isn't that right?"

"Uh. Yeah." Already the young knight could see where this was going, and he didn't like it.

The rotund goron elder's eyes twinkled. "Right now is as good a time as any. We could do with a break from these talks, anyway." He pulled himself to his feet and stretched his limbs.

Darbus rubbed his gravelly hands together. "I heard about your last victory. I'm looking forward to seeing this. There hasn't been a good sumo match here for weeks."

"Link?" The princess looked at him questioningly.

"Sure." Link stood, trying not to fall over as he put his weight on his feet – his efforts to stop his legs from falling asleep had been in vain, and he couldn't feel anything below his thighs at all. Outwardly, he grinned enthusiastically, but inside it was all he could do to stop himself from grinding his teeth as the rest of the group stood and they all made their way over to the other end of the hall. Link resented being reduced to being some sort of petty entertainment. He was a Royal Knight of Hyrule – the hero that had saved the entire kingdom from Ganondorf's clutches – not some court jester capering around at the whims of the princess. He couldn't very well have turned the offer down, either, not without seeming a fool.

Reaching down, he massaged the feeling back into his legs as he walked. The other knights and gorons gathered around the ring once they realised what was happening, an excited murmur floating out over the crowd, and Talis and Bain approached him, offering to hold his sword and shield while he climbed up onto the raised sumo ring. As they did, he fussed over what he was going to do about the iron boots that had led him to victory the first time he had wrestled with Gor Coron.

While the gorons didn't really pay any attention to the boots, he was sure that the knights and Zelda would see them for what they were, an unfair advantage. Wrestling a goron was an impressive feat, to be sure, but it was far less impressive when you were using equipment that made the deed that much easier.

Link paused. He was a lot stronger now then he was when he had first stepped into the ring with Gor Coron. Did he have a chance of winning if he chose not to use the boots? He had no idea if his legs were strong enough to brace against the massive goron's weight on their own, but it couldn't hurt to give it a try. Well, it could, but he would even impress himself if he managed to win without the iron boots as a crutch. It made him feel slightly better, to think of it as a challenge of his skill rather than a show for the princess's amusement. Tossing his green cap down to Bain, he ran a hand through his golden hair before stretching out his arms and legs to limber them up.

He saw Ashei frown slightly as he stepped up into the ring, her arms folded in front of her gold-enamelled cuirass as she stepped closer to the action and leant against a stone pillar. It was likely she knew about the iron boots from Rusl and was wondering whether he seriously intended to go toe to toe with the former sumo champion without them.

Her dark hair was tied in its usual braids, and an image of her with her hair out, her nude body glistening in the moonlight with water from the hot springs, rose up in Link's mind unbidden before he pushed it aside hastily and tried to focus on the ring. He loved Midna, and if he had his way the Twilight Princess would be the only other person he would ever be with; Ashei didn't even enter into it. The image rose in his mind again, but this time it was Midna who was naked and wet in the moonlight. He pushed it away again. Focus.

Across from him, Gor Coron climbed up to a few cheers from some of the gorons gathered around. The two of them faced off, settling down into a wide stance with their hands on their knees. Lifting his left leg high off the ground by tilting his body, Link slammed it down again onto the stone, Elder Gor Coron mirroring the move exactly. They both leant forward, hands at the ready. From the side of the ring, Darbus raised his arm in the air then brought it down to signal the start of the match.

Link and Gor Coron slammed into each other, hands grabbing and each attempting to overbalance the other. The initial slam all but knocked the air from the young knight's lungs; he felt like he was wrestling a masoned stone wall. Gor Coron forced him back several paces, his legs feeling like they were about to snap under the massive force, before he managed to twist free of the goron's crushing embrace. The initial contact was enough to convince him was no way he was going to be able to win this match if he tried to take Gor Coron head-on.

Sidestepping nimbly, Link feinted to the right, slamming his forearm into the goron's chest and causing him to take a step back to steady himself. The knight was already dodging again to the left, ducking under the goron's arm to slam his shoulder into his stomach and wrap his arms around Gor Coron's wide girth. He strained as hard as he could, pushing them back a few paces, before the elder shoved his away and attempted a grab of his own, but Link was already dodging, keeping himself a moving target. The only thing he could think of was to use his superior speed and agility to best advantage, but he still had no real idea of what he was going to do.

Coming in for another grab, he feinted twice this time and caught Gor Coron off-balance once again, forcing the older goron back another handful of paces as his muscles bulged. The elder was ready this time and managed to latch on to Link after shaking free, regaining the ground the knight had taken and more. Link could scarcely wheeze for air while Gor Coron had hold of him, and felt like he was about to be crushed and torn apart at the same time before he managed to struggle free. His breath was coming in short gasps now, and sweat made dark patches on his green tunic. Link's constant sidestepping had brought them right up parallel to the edge of the ring now, and whoever managed to force the other back next would likely push his opponent from the ring.

He had some semblance of a strategy now; in their current position Gor Coron would expect him to continue his tactic of sidestepping and feinting, and it seemed that the goron was learning to anticipate his moves. He needed to do something unexpected, something risky. Moving as if he were about to sidestep right, Link didn't bother with a feint, instead slamming directly into Gor Coron's bulk head-on. The goron let out a surprised grunt, and sweat beaded on Link's forehead as he used raw, brute force to muscle the elder back one step, then wrenched to the left. The goron's foot slipped on the edge of the ring and he crashed down onto his back in the space on the ground that the crowd had cleared from.

Link stood there staring dumbfounded and panting heavily, his face red with effort, as a cheer rippled through the knights gathered around the ring. Bain and Talis clapped him on the back as he slowly stepped down from the ring, laughing and congratulating him. Ashei whooped and applauded ferociously, grinning and shaking her head in amazement. Princess Zelda clapped her hands, a small smile on her face. Even the gorons joined in on the applause while Gor Coron pulled himself to his feet and chuckled. "I can't even ask for the best of three – that's your second victory in a row. Considering your other accomplishments, I guess I'm not really that surprised." He reached out a massive hand to shake Link's.

The golden-haired knight could scarcely believe that he'd won. For a moment during the match he had been slightly afraid that the strain was going to deal him some sort of permanent damage, but apart from a slight soreness in his thighs and biceps and a shortness of breath, he appeared unharmed. He'd just wrestled a goron – not just any goron, a former champion sumo wrestler – to the ground with his bare hands and no iron boots. He felt superhuman.

Ashei muscled her way through the crowd to reach him, shaking her head in wonder as she did. "Those must have been some big goats, yeah? Remind me never to wrestle with you. At least, not that kind of wrestling." Link's face turned red again, this time from embarrassment rather than exertion. Did she want everyone to know what had happened between them? Thankfully, no one else seemed to notice her comment.

After the wrestling match, the rest of the visit passed quickly. Apparently the discussions between the princess and the goron leaders had been nearing their end anyway, and a scant hour or so later they were bidding each other goodbye. Their entourage was joined by a retinue of seven young adult gorons who were to join the ranks of the knight-in-training – Princess Zelda had apparently made a decision to expand the ranks of the Royal Knights to include races other than hylian. The goron's massive strength would come in handy in the defence of Hyrule, and Link wondered if she was planning a similar recruitment from the zora vassal state.

Dusk was approaching rapidly as they re-entered Kakariko Village, coming down the same path they had headed up from. They had spent around six or seven hours up at the goron stronghold, with a two hour hike there and an hour and a half back, and everyone was weary from the long day, apart from the gorons. The knights that weren't assigned to first guard tonight returned to the main entourage's campsite at the north end of the village, eager to rest and share stories about the goron stronghold and Link's wrestling match with Elder Gor Coron. Ashei was nowhere to be seen; she must have slipped away while he wasn't watching.

Link himself was heading towards the Elde Inn to get ready to retire for the evening when a horse and rider thundered in to the northern end of the village and headed down the wide street towards the inn. The young knight stopped to watch, and was surprised when he recognised the wide-brimmed wizzrobe hat atop the cloaked rider's head, and gave a wave as Tuli reined in her horse in front of him and dismounted awkwardly.

The scholar looked out of breath, and her long brown hair was dishevelled from the ride. She straightened the long, dark blue cloak she wore over her matching riding dress before flashing him a wide smile and leading the brown gelding towards him. "Perfect. I wasn't sure if I was going to have to go looking for you up the mountain or not."

"What are you doing out here, Tuli?" Link's breath caught as he realised there was only thing that would have caused the young hylian to leave the castle in search of him. "Have you found something?"

"It's nice to see you, too." Tuli grumbled. "Yes, I've found something." Her expression changed to a secretive smile as she turned and started to fiddle with her saddlebags, eventually producing a small package wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. A quick glance up at the inn and she frowned. "We should go somewhere more private."

Link looked up at the second floor of the inn to see Princess Zelda watching them from her window with an unreadable expression on her face. Nodding slightly, he waited for Tuli to tie the gelding's reins and put on its nosebag before leading her inside. A short flight of stairs and a narrow corridor later, and he was opening the door to the room he had been allocated. His eyes widened in alarm once he stepped inside and realised the room already held another occupant.

Ashei lay reclining on his bed wearing nothing but a thin linen shift that covered little and left nothing to the imagination, her armor and clothes lying discarded in a corner of the room. A pair of newly lit, good tallow candles on the narrow bedside table enhanced the failing light of the setting sun and ensured that every curve of Ashei's body was visible. "Hey hero, I decided that I'd take you up on that offer of a warm bed you made the other day..." Her expression froze as Tuli entered the room close on Link's heels. Despite the situation, Link felt a twisted sense of satisfaction in seeing the raven-haired adventurer being the one caught off-guard for a change. She recovered quickly, however, flicking the bedsheets over herself in a single deft motion to recover a modicum of modesty. "Oh. Hi. I don't believe we've met."

"Um, wow. Hi."

"Tuli, this is Ashei. Ashei, Tuli." Link tried to keep his voice level, but he couldn't stop just a hint of panic from creeping in – he had no idea how to get out of this. He didn't think Tuli's eyebrows could possibly climb any higher on her head, and there was more than a hint of a blush colouring her cheeks – he realised that the scholar must be recalling the time he had walked in on _her_ when she had been wearing nothing but her shift.

"I… see. _You're_ Ashei. Shad spoke very highly of you." From her tone, it was clear Tuli had already decided that he had been mistaken to do so.

"Maybe… uh, Ashei, do you want to…?" Link made a feeble gesture towards the pile of clothes in the corner of the room and half-turned, watching to make sure she would get up without making it obvious he could still see her. "There are some things I need to talk to Tuli about."

Tuli turned her head as well, and Ashei didn't waste time in wriggling out of the bed and slipping on her tight-fitting trousers and shirt over the top of the linen shift. Notably, she left her sword and armor on the ground as she moved across the room and sidled past Link, standing on tiptoes to whisper softly in his ear. "I'll be downstairs. Don't keep me waiting too long." After she left, Link closed the door firmly behind her and sagged slightly, letting his forehead bang gently against the cool wood.

"What was…?"

"Don't ask. Just… don't. It's complicated. Please." Link sighed heavily and turned to face her. "You said you have something for me?"

Tuli was looking down and fingering the string of the brown package in her hands as if unsure if she wanted to give it to him. "I managed to re-establish the Shadow Crystal's connection to the Twilight Realm."

A smile spread across the young knight's face, his embarrassment forgotten. "That's fantastic news, Tuli. Have you discovered anything further?"

"Here." She handed him the parcel. "The results of one of my experiments. I had one of the castle seamstresses help me with the measurements, it should fit."

Link undid the wrapping as fast as his fingers would let him, revealing cool black material. "A tunic?" He held up the article of clothing by the shoulders, examining it closely. The strange fabric was cool to the touch, incredibly light, and pitch-black, seeming to absorb the light around it and make the room dimmer by its very presence.

"I thought the 'Twilight Tunic' was appropriate. Try it on." She stared at him expectantly for a few seconds before she blinked and, flushing slightly, turned her back to him to give him some privacy.

Undoing his belt, Link carefully placed it on the bed along with his sword scabbard and shield, then pulled his green tunic over his head and tossed it near where Ashei's armor sat. Someone would find it and wash it for him, and there was a fresh clean one sitting draped over the simple wooden chair that sat at the foot of the bed anyway. A few moments later and he was re-fastening his belt over the top of the black fabric of the new tunic. It did fit, but it felt… odd. There was obviously some sort of magic worked into it, but he wasn't exactly sure what to expect. "Now what?"

Tuli turned back to face him again and gave him an appraising look. "It looks good on you. I'm not sure exactly how it's going to work, but uh… try to think wolf-y thoughts."

"Seriously? Okay." Link took a deep breath and focused his mind, concentrating on what it felt like to be a wolf. It had been a long time ago, but Link could remember it perfectly. The feeling of running on all fours, the sensation of the wind whipping through his fur, the enhanced sense of smell that almost worked as a second form of sight… there. Something was there now, he could feel it. Was it the tunic? Reaching out with his mind he embraced it, drawing the wolf into himself – drinking it in, revelling in it.

For a brief moment it felt like his guts were turning inside out as a familiar sensation rushed along his limbs, and as his legs twisted and shortened he fell to his hands – no, not hands any longer. Paws. He heard Tuli give a half-strangled yelp, but paid her no heed. He was a wolf again. He was surprised at how easy it had been to invoke the transformation, but then again it wasn't like he was unused to the magic. Perhaps it would have been harder had he never transformed into a wolf before.

For some reason the Twili magic that had originally transformed him into this form had failed completely once the Twilight Mirror had been shattered, seemingly requiring a connection to the Twilight Realm itself to be able to channel energy through. Now Tuli had re-established that connection, and his goal of reuniting with Midna seemed closer than ever.

He looked up at the scholar – she had an expression of shocked wonder on her face. Of course, knowing something was going to happen and seeing it happen were two different things. She had never seen him in wolf form before, let alone the transformation itself. Looking down again, he stared in amazement at the manacle and broken length of chain that sat on his left front leg – even after all this time it was still there. He wasn't sure where it went when he turned back into a hylian, but then again, he wasn't sure where all of his equipment went when he was in wolf form.

He wanted to run around, to feel the freedom and excitement of exploring in this shape again, but that could wait for now. He focused his mind and forced himself to focus on his hylian form again, and what it felt like. The transformation inverted, and after a second or two he was pulling himself to his feet, a massive grin plastered across his face.

"That was… mildly disconcerting." Tuli's voice was slightly shaken.

Laughing, Link wrapped his arms around the surprised scholar, causing her to yelp again, and lifted her off the ground, twirling around once before setting her back down. Disconcerting for her maybe – he himself was deliriously happy. "Tuli, that was incredible. I could kiss you."

The scholar turned away from him, obviously trying to hide the flush of colour that had just heated her cheeks. "Yes, well. Um. It was a long ride here and uh… I will need to rest for my return trip tomorrow. I will give you more details regarding my discoveries in the morning."

"Of course. Go downstairs and tell the innkeeper that I said she is to have a room prepared for you." Link grinned again. "Thanks for coming, Tuli. I'm happy you brought me this."

"You're welcome."

After Tuli had gone, he carefully stripped off the black tunic, folded it neatly, and placed it next to the candles on the bedside table. Kicking off his boots, he proceeded to undress for bed – last night he hadn't gotten much rest, and today had been incredibly tiring – and he was looking forward to getting a good night sleep tonight, if he could stop his mind racing from Tuli's news.

As he went to put the candles out, the door creaked open behind him and he turned his head to see Ashei step quickly into the room before closing the door behind her, a sly grin on her face as she inspected his naked body. He coloured, but only slightly. Oh well. It looked like he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight, either.


	8. Chapter 7

_Chapter Seven_

The morning sun streamed into the room from behind the closed curtains as Link lay in bed, thinking. Despite Ashei's voracious appetite he had still managed to get a decent amount of sleep last night, but he was still very tired, and more than once he stifled a yawn to keep from waking his companion. He was tired, but very content.

Ashei's head rested on his chest – she was still asleep, with her body curled against his right side and her legs intertwined with his beneath the sheets. Link's arm was around her, with his hand resting gently on her shoulder, and he stroked her long black hair with a finger absently as he lay there. He didn't feel as guilty this morning as he had yesterday, but it was still there, nagging in the back of his skull.

Last night would be the last time. Now that Tuli seemed to be getting closer to bridging the world of Light and the Twilight Realm, he couldn't get distracted from his goal of reaching Midna. Ashei shifted slightly in her sleep, her inner thigh rubbing against Link in a way that caused him to inhale sharply, and he felt his body start to heat again. Well, this morning would be the last time, then. Maybe. One more night like last night surely wouldn't hurt, either.

He shook his head slightly to try to clear it. No, he wasn't thinking straight – he couldn't afford to have lust cloud his judgement like that. Reaching down, he carefully moved Ashei's leg off of him and then gently rolled onto his right side, sliding her head down onto the pillow and extricating himself from the tangle of sheets and naked flesh to sit on the edge of the bed. He sat there for a few minutes, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees and letting his blood cool off.

Once he judged himself sufficiently settled, Link stood slowly and started to dress, keeping quiet so as not to awaken Ashei. Disregarding the fresh green tunic that lay across the chair at the foot of the bed, he slid the Twilight Tunic, as Tuli had named it, over his head and buckled his belt, sword scabbard and shield securely before continuing with the rest of his clothes. Looking over at Ashei, he watched her sleep for a few seconds. She was very peaceful when asleep, and beautiful. He felt tempted to undress again and climb back into the bed with her, he resisted the urge and firmly turned to head downstairs, making extra sure not to make too much noise when he slipped through the door and closed it again behind him.

The ground level of the inn was empty of people, the simple furnishings appearing not to have been disturbed since the previous night. Vaguely, Link wondered where the innkeeper – at this hour, she should be up and making breakfast preparations for her guests. His stomach growled at the thought of food, emphasising the fact that he had neglected to eat a meal the previous evening.

The entourage was to leave Kakariko today and head southwest – their next stop was Ordon Village, his hometown. Many didn't consider the Ordona Province that the village rested in to be a true part of Hyrule, an opinion that Princess Zelda evidently did not share. He would need to go out and ensure that everyone at the north end of the town was making preparations to break camp; if anything was out of place or took too long the princess might decide it enough reason to make his life just that much harder. Besides, until the innkeeper got up he wasn't going to be fed here, and he was hungry _now_ – he might be able to russel up some breakfast with the common soldiery. Link was used to poor fare from his past as a rancher, so he didn't mind trading in a hearty meal for a soldier's fare so long as it kept his belly full.

Opening the door of the inn, he stepped out into the full morning light and stretched his arms, yawning widely. From here he could see that people were busily swarming about at the northern camp, and from the rate at which tents went down as he watched they would likely be ready to leave within the hour. It was doubtful they would leave that soon, however – the princess was notoriously good at taking her time when it came to getting ready of a morning. Link walked out a few paces then stopped, the back of his head itching as if someone were staring at him.

Turning his head slightly, he peeked out of the corner of his eye and suppressed a sigh when he saw Princess Zelda through the window next to the door of the inn. The two knights that had been assigned to guard her during the night were there too, and one of her maidservants, looking as though she was headed towards the kitchen – probably to arrange the princess's breakfast. They must have only narrowly missed him as they came downstairs. The princess was already taking a step towards the door as Link reached behind him and put a hand on the grip of one of his clawshots. No chance of that right now, not in the middle of the street where everyone could see and with Zelda looking right at him.

Suddenly, the princess's gaze wavered and she looked up to the stairs next to her – someone else must have decided to come downstairs. Seizing the opportunity by the throat, Link spun on his heel and sprinted around the far side of the inn, away from prying eyes, bringing out his clawshot as he did so. He located a suitable anchor for the device high up on the side of the building, took his aim and fired, yanking himself off the ground as quickly as he was able as he heard the front door of the inn swing open around the corner.

Hanging from the top of the building, he grinned to himself and peeked around the corner to see the princess standing in front of the inn, looking around in puzzlement. Link had no desire to talk to the princess right now, and like as not having him disappear on her like that would frustrate her to no end. He knew it wasn't very knightly behaviour and he would be pretty embarrassed if he was caught out, but any opportunity to get the princess's back up was well worth the risk.

- - - - - -

Tuli muttered sharply under her breath as she pulled on her riding boots, yanking hard on the laces and pulling them far tighter than was comfortable. The nerve of the man! Spending all this time on a fool quest to reunite himself with his lost love, and here he was bedding some vulgar harlot in his spare time. She spent all her time trying to help him and _this_ is what he was doing while she wasn't around? She just wanted to scream.

She checked to make sure she had gathered all of her belongings before stomping out of her room and giving the door a satisfying slam as she walked out. A tinge of jealousy briefly flashed through her as she stalked past the door to Link's room and made her way to the top of the stairs that led to the first floor of the inn. If he was going to bed someone while he was waiting to find Mida, Tuli could think of much better candidates than that slatternly trull Ashei. She pushed the thought down hastily. She was angry, _not_ jealous.

Princess Zelda was walking past the foot of the stairs, stepping quickly towards the front of the inn, when Tuli came down the staircase. The princess paused and glanced up at her as she came into view, her clear blue eyes taking in Tuli's scowl, before she looked back towards the front of the inn. A flicker of surprise touched her features, then a frown, and she picked up her pace, hurrying out of Tuli's field of vision towards the front door.

As she rounded the bottom of the staircase, she could see that Zelda had opened the front door and walked out several paces; the princess now looked around with a pensive expression on her face, as if searching for something. Tuli was glad that the princess was otherwise occupied; she was sure that Zelda would have some words to say to her about last night, none of them good. The opportunity to slip out behind her and be out of Kakariko before the princess had a chance to talk to her seemed ripe, but before she managed to get much more than a step out the door, the princess looked over her shoulder. "Hold a moment, Tuli."

The scholar's scowl deepened briefly, but she schooled her face to smoothness as Zelda turned to face her. "Good morning, your majesty."

"Good morning." The princess looked around again; once she was satisfied that there was no one within earshot she shot Tuli a frosty glare. "I thought we understood each other, Tuli. Any progress you made on your research was to be reported to me before you passed it on to Link."

Tuli knew that this had been coming. Even so, she could feel her frustration, both towards Zelda and Link, bubbling to the surface. "You told me that my work concerning the Shadow Crystal was fine."

"That was before you'd made any significant progress with it. I saw him wearing a black tunic. What is it?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"I'm asking _you_." Zelda's voice was tight.

"I managed to reactivate and duplicate the connection to the Twilight Realm. He can use it to turn into a wolf again."

The princess was silent for a few moments before she sighed heavily. "I see. I'm disappointed in you, Tuli. This is something that definitely should have gone through me first."

Unable to keep from snapping any longer, Tuli almost snarled as she vented at Zelda. "Why? So you could hide it from him? I'm sick of my research being kept hidden. What's the point of me even doing anything if you're just going to withhold it all from him?"

A cold stare was Zelda's only reaction to the outburst. "I am not going debate this with you. You _will_ be vigilant in keeping me informed with precise information regarding your progress from now on. This is _not_ a request." With that, the princess strode past Tuli and back into the inn without a backwards glance.

Tuli wanted to howl. Here she was, arguing with the matriarch of the entire kingdom over some thrice-cursed fool man who wouldn't even look at her sideways. She forced herself to walk stiffly to the side of the building and start to untie her horse, Zevra, from the hitching ring. That was it. They could both rot, for all she cared, Link and Zelda both. She was going to go back to the castle, gather her personal items, and head back to her mother's house in Castle Town. She was sick and tired of being used, taken for granted, and manipulated, and she wasn't going to stand for it any longer.

- - - - - -

Link watched from above as the princess walked back into the inn and the scholar moved around to the side of the building. As Tuli turned to lead her horse away, he lowered himself to the ground and landed heavily on the hard-packed earth directly behind her. The scholar froze. "Tuli." His tone was soft and measured, but his chest held a tight knot of anger that was growing by the second. "What have you been hiding from me?"

Turning slowly to face him, Tuli stared at him without answering long enough for him to open his mouth to repeat himself, but suddenly she burst into tears and buried her face in his chest. "The princess… she… she made me do it. I didn't… I didn't want to keep anything from you." She choked on the words as she squeezed them out, sobs wracking her small body, and Link's anger dissipated and was replaced by concern. He had never seen Tuli cry before. He put his arms around her awkwardly, holding the back of her head with one hand as she sobbed and murmured softly to her that it was alright.

After Tuli's tears had slowed slightly, he gently raised her face from his chest. "I need you to tell me everything."

As she filled him in on her discoveries regarding the Ocarina of Time, Link's anger didn't take long to return; this time it was directed solely towards Zelda. How could she have forced Tuli to lie to him like this? Any trust he had for the princess was no long gone. Who else was she manipulating? Could he trust Bain and Talis to be honest with him? Yesterday he would have believed so, but then he would have believed that Tuli wasn't capable of deceiving him either. Was there anyone that Zelda wouldn't have been able to sink her talons into?

The scholar pulled back and dabbed at her red-rimmed eyes with the sleeve of her dark blue riding dress. "Even though she told me not to… I kept looking out for information about the Ocarina, in case she changed her mind. I have a drawer full of research on it in my room in the castle. I even have some melodies that I think will let you access its abilities if you play them on it."

Link nodded slowly. "Do you know where it is?"

"I think so. Here, in Kakariko."

"Here?"

"Behind the graveyard there's an abandoned temple, built by the Sheikah. They used to be the retainers of the Royal Family, and everything I've read points to them being entrusted with it after the Hero of Time returned from one of his adventures. The temple was originally used as a vault of some sort, and it's the only place I could find that seemed likely for them to keep it, but I don't know how to get in."

"Thank you, Tuli." Link said gently. "Is there anything else?"

"The ocarina should work on its own, but… I think to use the full range of its powers you'll need the Master Sword again."

Link's thoughts raced. If he could travel back in time somehow, he could talk to Midna, convince her not to destroy the Twilight Mirror. This was perfect. The only problem now was Princess Zelda. He needed to move quickly before she realised what was happening; there was no doubt in his mind that she would try to stop him once she realised that Tuli had betrayed her little secret. "Alright. I have something I need you to do for me. I need you to ride to the castle and get your research on the Ocarina, then meet me down in Faron Province, near the Sacred Grove. Can I count on you?"

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Tuli nodded. A sound towards the front of the building made them both turn to see Ashei leaning casually against the edge of the wall with her arms folded, fully dressed and clad in her armor, her thin sword hanging at her hip. "An abandoned Shiekah temple. Sounds fun, yeah? I haven't explored an ancient ruin in a good while."

Out of the corner of his eye, Link saw Tuli's hands clench into fists. "Go on, Tuli. You'll need to head off as soon as possible. I'll see you in a day or two." The scholar looked for a few seconds before nodding. Leading her horse out past Ashei, she pulled herself up into the saddle and started out at a light trot. After she was out of earshot, Link folded his arms and fixed Ashei with a hard glare. "How much of that did you overhear?"

"Enough to know you're not terribly impressed with her majesty right now, and you could use some help."

Link kept the glare up for a few more seconds before he sighed and shook his head. "Alright. We need to move as quickly as possible; find a way into the temple, get in, get the Ocarina, get out, and be well on our way to the Sacred Grove before Zelda realises what's happening. Hopefully we have a few hours yet before the entourage starts moving – that'll be when they notice I'm missing." Ashei was the one friend he had that he could trust completely right now, the only one who had no first-hand contact with the princess whatsoever. "You realise what you're getting into?"

Ashei just rolled her eyes. "Yeah. We going or what?"

Link nodded, his face a cold mask of determination. "Yeah." For too long he had let Zelda kick him around like some dog she expected to come to heel. He was done with it now – he would do what he wanted, and the consequences be damned.

- - - - - -

Tuli rode at a slow trot as she passed through the eastern side of Eldin Province. She was fifteen minutes out from Kakariko, and she saw no need for excessive speed. She would easily make Castle Town today, and then in the morning she would head south in time to meet back up with Link by tomorrow evening. A cool breeze blew over the province this morning, and Tuli drew up her cloak to keep off the chill.

Her anger at Link and Zelda had drained away after leaving Kakariko, and now she just felt hollow inside. Of course Zelda was trying to act in the best interests of her kingdom. Of course Link could bed who he wanted. It was selfish of her to think that they would take her feelings into consideration when they made their decisions. A week ago, she would have said that Link was her friend, but the truth was that she was just a nervous little scholar that he had hired, nothing more. Tuli sighed, something she had done a lot of since leaving the village.

A familiar sound behind her caused her to catch the sigh in her throat and she turned her head to see a faint dust cloud behind her. A group of men on horses were headed in Tuli's direction at a gallop, and she was fairly sure they had already spotted her. As they came closer, she recognised the glint of sunlight off metal cuirasses and helmets and the livery of soldiers of the crown. It would be no use to try to outrun them – their warhorses would easily outpace her small brown gelding – so she contented herself to keep to the same pace she had been making, waiting for them to catch up.

"Hold, in the name of the Princess!" Tuli didn't slow her pace, and the soldiers surrounded her, one pulling up beside her to grab the reins. She didn't resist, simply calmly handing them over and folding her hands into her lap as Zevra trotted to a halt. A few moments later and Princess Zelda herself reined in in front of her, her divided riding skirt shining white and purple in the morning light.

"Your majesty." Tuli inclined her head slightly, concentrating on maintaining a cool facade. How had she found out? What other reason would she possibly have for chasing the scholar down other than discovery of her betrayal? "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Where is he?"

Tuli was careful with her tone. "Where is who?"

The princess was positively icy, with eyes as hard as steel and a voice to match. "Don't play games, Tuli. It doesn't suit you. You know who I'm talking about."

"I don't know where he is."

"I don't believe you." Tuli couldn't tell whether Zelda sighed or merely exhaled sharply. "You told him, didn't you?"

The scholar's expression slipped slightly, but a few seconds later she gave a sigh of her own. Lying wasn't easier for her at the best of times, and surrounded by soldiers with the ruling matriarch of the kingdom looking her straight in the eye wasn't the best of times. She hated lying. "Yes. I had to. I told him everything. How did you...?"

"You think I wouldn't have set watchers on you after your last stunt? He and Ashei have disappeared, but no one saw where they went. You were the last to speak to them. Now, tell me where he is, or I will have you arrested."

That was alarming. From what Tuli had heard, the princess would never normally talk that sharply to anyone. She was in a much deeper mess than she initially imagined; maybe it would be for the best to just cooperate for now and see what happened. "...he's going after the ocarina."

"Where?"

"The Shadow Temple. It's in Kakariko Village's graveyard."

"It's that close?" Tuli was shocked to hear Zelda swear an oath under her breath, another sign that the monarch had been pushed far further by this than the scholar had previously thought. "I had hoped it was halfway across Hyrule and we could catch up to him before he managed to obtain it. We must move quickly." Turning to a pair of mounted Royal Knights, she forced her tone back to a semblance of normality and addressed them directly. "Head back to Kakariko as fast as your horses will take you. Gather the rest of the knights and follow after him. Don't injure him too badly, but restrain him if necessary." Her words were met by salutes and a murmur of assent.

Tuli waited until the knights had galloped off before she spoke, choosing her words carefully. "Am I free to go?"

"I will deal with you later." The princess snapped at her before indicating two of the regular liveried soldiers that had accompanied her out of the village. "You two, escort her back to the castle. She is to stay under guard, but do not impede her unless she tries to leave the castle."

The soldiers saluted and bowed deeply in their saddles. "It will be as you say your majesty."

Tuli watched uneasily as the Princess and her remaining guardsmen wheeled their horses around and set off back the way they had come, following after the two knights she had already dispatched. Silently, she offered a small prayer to the Goddesses that Link found the ocarina before they caught up with him, then picked up her reins and started Zevra moving again, her newly-acquired guards in tow. Only two? Maybe she had underestimated Zelda by not assuming she would have set someone to watching her, but the princess was now sorely underestimating Tuli's magical ability if she thought a pair of regular soldiers could keep her confined to the castle. She would be in Faron Province waiting for Link tomorrow evening, as planned, of that she was certain. She just wished she could be as sure that Link would be there waiting for her.


	9. Chapter 8

_Chapter Eight_

The masonry in the temple was dark and waterstained, and a faint luminescence seemed to emanate from the walls that made it light enough to see, but dark enough that everything was still draped in shadows. Walking down the dank corridor past the entry chamber, Ashei found herself deciding that the Shadow Temple was very aptly named.

As she went to turn the corner, Ashei jerked to a halt as the floor ended abruptly in front of her. The adventurer was certain that the sheer-edged pit was not a result of an earthquake or damage to the temple – the next twenty foot long section of corridor simply had no floor. Link came up to stand beside her and she frowned. The corridor continued on as normal beyond the pit, and from what she could see it looked as if the area had been purposefully designed that way.

"Well that's annoying. I have some rope and a hook here but I don't see anything I can use to anchor it on…" The adventurer untucked a thin black cord from the bottom of her cuirass, looping it around her arm before reaching down and retrieving the small metal grappling iron from her right boot. Link was watching her with a bemused expression on his face as she attached the hook to the rope then cast her eyes over the far end of the corridor, searching vainly for something she could catch with the iron.

Putting a hand on her arm, Link shook his head and reached behind the shield that hung on his back and withdrew a small metallic device tipped with a three-pronged claw. "Here. Watch." Handing her the strange object, he reached back and produced a second, identical one and pointed it at a small wooden plaque that sat just below the lip of the pit on the opposite side that Ashei hadn't really noticed until now. Holding it up so she could see, the knight squeezed a trigger and the claw shot out of the device, trailing a thick length of chain. It whipped across the gap, striking his target and pulling taunt as he gave it an experimental tug. Ashei was sure that the claw could not have gotten a firm enough grip to hold his weight, but a second later he thumbed back a small lever on the handle and sailed across the pit as the chain retracted. A few seconds later and he was scrambling over the lip of the gap and, yanking the claw free from the plaque, he gestured for Ashei to follow him.

Copying his movements exactly, Ashei gave a yelp when the chain yanked her off her feet and sent her flying over to the opposite side of the pit. Link gave a small smile and helped her to her feet, tucking both of the devices back into their pouches. They continued on for a short way before the corridor ended abruptly, a wall of stone carved with the twisted likeness of a skull blocking their way.

Ashei had to suppress an involuntary shudder. Rasping voices hovering on the edge of hearing, whispering over and through each other and seemingly coming from everywhere at once. _"The shadow will yield only to one with the eye of truth… handed down in Kakariko Village…" _She could make out bits and pieces, but the haunted voices slipped away every time she tried to pinpoint their origin.

"You hear that?"

"Yeah."

Ashei gestured to the wall in front of them. "What now?"

"It can't just be sealed up. There has to be a secret passage or something." Link went to press his hands against the wall, obviously preparing to search for some sort of hidden mechanism, when his gauntlets passed _through_ the skull, disappearing beyond the stone. Startled, he pulled them back, then hesitantly waved a hand through the 'wall'. "It's an illusion of some kind, there's nothing really there." Cautiously, he drew his sword and shield before he put a foot through, testing the ground beyond. A second later he plunged through completely. Ashei followed suit, inhaling deeply before plunging through the illusion.

They found themselves in a large chamber, only half of which had a floor. The area that did was dominated by a plinth with a human-sized statue of a stylized bird perched upon it, wings spread wide as if taking flight. A stone slab jutted out from the plinth, topped with iron spikes and engraved with a crescent moon. Around the structure was a circle of six thin columns, each a little over ten feet high and topped with a leering skull. Beyond, the top of an iron brazier blazed with fire, and across the chasm that filled the other side of the room was a small platform with a corridor leading off from it, barred by an iron portcullis. At even intervals all along the walls of the room, the same carved skull from the end of the corridor grinned at them. Ashei brushed her fingers against one experimentally – it seemed the ones in this room were real, at least. She looked over at Link and took a moment to admire him from behind.

The ignorant country youth that she had met in Telma's Bar in Castle Town well over a year ago was long gone, replaced by a powerful young knight who had garnered respect from every corner of the kingdom. To begin with Ashei had had no interest in him whatsoever, but she had always found strength attractive, and during the Twilight Invasion Link had demonstrated a level of power and skill that she had found intoxicatingly irresistible. The only reason she had held off for as long as she had was to respect the feelings he had for that Twili princess he was mooning after – once Ashei had judged that he had had sufficient time to get over her, she had pounced.

Two nights in a row, she'd been with him. Unusual, for her. She had never really been interested in a serious relationship, preferring to just find someone suitable anytime the urge struck her. Up until now, her sexual history had consisted of nothing but a series of one-night stands; she had never even slept with the same person more than once until now. As an adventurer, living from one day to the next and never knowing which may be your last, anything beyond the most casual of encounters seemed pointless.

Initially, her intentions with Link hadn't been anything beyond the usual one-nighter, but after watching him wrestle a goron sumo champion to the ground with his bare hands Ashei had found it hard to resist the desire to jump on him right then and there. She had sated that urge last night, and though her sex drive had settled for now, she idly wondered if there would be something today that would make her want to have her way with him again. It certainly seemed possible; men like Link tended to attract danger like a magnet, and the ancient temple they were making their way through was quite definitely going to be full of danger and lurking horrors.

Ashei pursed her lips as she watched the young knight out of the corner of her eye; he was quite handsome, as well. A number of the men she had been with hadn't been much to look at, those she had taken an interest in solely because of their strength, but Link was definitely not one of them. He moved with a deadly grace as he walked, like a tiger on the prowl, sword and insignia-emblazoned shield at the ready as if expecting combat at any second. He had the sort of physique that most other men would only ever dream of having, muscular and toned without reaching the point of being excessive or unpleasant, and his fine facial features and longish blonde hair lent him a strikingly heroic appearance. His hard gaze scanned the dank room with the diligence of a practiced adventuring eye – in their business, overlooking anything at all, making even the slightest misstep, could mean death. The pitch black tunic he wore today seemed to interact strangely with the faint light, and when he stood in shadow it was impossible to see where the tunic ended and darkness began.

Link walked slowly towards the central statue, but as he did Ashei bounded across and threw her arm in front of him, barring his way. He looked at her quizzically, and she turned and knelt down. The brickwork was set in a circular pattern inside the circle of skull-poles that deviated from the regular floor pattern. A quick tactile investigation confirmed her suspicions, and she looked up at the knight. "The floor here has been rigged to drop away. It's solid at the moment, but I'm not sure what will trigger it."

Nodding, Link waited until Ashei stood before he continued out across to the stone plinth in the centre. The whispering voices flared up again, and Ashei caught another few words before they died away. _"Make my beak face the skull of truth… the alternative is descent into the deep darkness…"_

Putting a gauntleted hand to the engraved moon symbol, Link looked over at her. "It looks like we can use this slab to rotate the statue. What do you think?"

"It needs to point at one of those pillars. I think if you push it to the wrong one, the floor will give way. The question is which one is the right one?"

"The skull of truth…" Link murmured. "We've already seen one illusion in this place, who's to say there aren't more? I have an idea." He gave her a level look. "Turn around."

"Uh, why?"

"Just do it."

"Okay…" Nonplussed, Ashei turned her back to the knight, unsure of what to expect. There was a faint rasping sound, like something scraping across a thin sheet of metal. "What exactly am I-" She froze as a silver-grey wolf padded up beside her and looked up at her face, eyeing her coolly. A black iron manacle was latched around one of the beast's forelimbs, and it bore a triangular golden marking on its brow. Remembering something she had heard once, she forced her hand away from her sword hilt where it had instinctively moved to and inhaled deeply. "You should have told me what you were doing. I very nearly skewered you just then." She reached down to cautiously touch Link on the forehead – she had heard about his ability to transform into a wolf, of course, but she had never seen it before.

He patiently waited as her hand settled on his head and she gave an experimental scratch behind his ears. Snorting, the wolf flicked her hand off and shot her an indignant look before padding away from her and looking closely up at the skull that topped the nearest column. Ashei stood quietly while he slowly made a circuit of the ring, studying each skull in turn, before he walked over to one and sat down beside it, looking at her expectantly.

"That one?" Link cocked his head to the side and continued to stare at her. "Alright." Cracking her knuckles, Ashei braced herself against the stone slab attached to the plinth and pushed, hard. The ancient stone groaned in protest, but she slowly forged ahead as the structure turned. The sound of stone grinding against stone filled the chamber, and as she approached the column that Link had indicated her muscles tensed, prepared to spring away the second it seemed as though the floor was going to fall away. The statue clicked into place audibly as she relented from her pushing, and for a moment nothing happened. Suddenly the grinding of gears filled the air and across the chasm on the other side of the room the portcullis that had been barring the corridor slowly lifted.

Looking over at the result of her labour, Ashei gave a wry chuckle. "Now what are we supposed to do? There's nothing over there for your little claw devices to catch on to over there." The wolf scanned the room, then stood and padded over to one of the carved skull motifs on the wall, sniffing the air. Looking back once at Ashei, he disappeared through the wall.

A twisting maze of illusory walls and corridors lay beyond, and with Link's wolf senses leading they navigated slowly through as barely perceptible whispering voices swirled maddeningly about them. _"Shadow Temple... here is gathered Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred... what is hidden in the darkness... tricks full of ill will... you can't see the way forward... one who gains the eye of truth will be able to see what is hidden in the darkness…"_

Eventually, they came to a stone slab of a door that slid up into the ceiling at Ashei's touch. Beyond lay a room with what appeared to be a series of long white poles thrust into the floor. Stepping inside, the adventurer sighed when the door slid down behind her and Link, locked in place with iron bars. It was then that she noticed that what she had originally taken to by white poles were in fact incredibly long, emaciated arms – thin flesh stretched over them white enough to be almost transparent with human-like hands tipped with red claws. Link gave a low warning growl, baring his teeth and spreading his forepaws apart while his nose twitched irritably.

Ashei drew her sword from its scabbard, carefully inching forward and glancing around the room again to make sure she hadn't missed anything, but the room was empty save the two of them and the arms, which sat unmoving in the soft dirt that comprised the floor of the square room. Continuing forward, Ashei let out a shriek as the two nearest arms struck at her like snakes, one wrapping its filthy claws around her throat and the other seizing her swordarm at the wrist. Despite their seeming frailty, the hands gripped her with an unnatural strength and she found herself gasping for air, unable to breathe, as she struggled against them.

Suddenly, a bloated, putrescent creature burst forth from the soft dirt nearby, its skin glistening wetly in the ambient light. It shuffled towards them, its feet hidden beneath the fleshy folds of its blotchy white body and its grossly distended neck pointing straight upwards so that its face was almost touching the ceiling. The monstrosity's arms ended in fleshy red flaps of skin, and as it drew closer it lowered its head, putrid saliva dribbling from its jaw as it regarded them with cold, black eyes and gashed its teeth hungrily.

Link's jaws closed like a vice on one of the arms that held her, tearing savagely at the limb and causing it to loosen its hold on her neck sufficiently for her to break free. Ashei twisted around, struggling free of the second arm and slashed at it with her sword. The metal blade sliced through the thin skin and muscle and scored down the bone, leaving a long gash that oozed pus and clear fluid. The injured arms retracted into the ground, disappearing beneath the loose soil as the bloated humanoid creature swung its distended jaw towards Ashei, trying to latch on to her with a mouth full of ragged, discoloured teeth.

A rasping sound came from behind her and then Link was there, having shed his wolf form, swinging his sword around in a powerful arc. Ashei tumbled out of the way as the young knight split the creature's grinning face with his blade, and it howled in pain as saliva and ichor splattered to the ground. Not waiting for the creature to regain its balance, Link slammed his shield hard into its head, smashing its already ruined face into pulp with a powerful Shield Bash. As the monster turned to retreat he leapt into the air, somersaulting over it and bringing his sword down like a scythe in his Helm Splitter technique, cleaving its head and the majority of its distended neck in half. It fell to the ground and twitched for a few moments before lying still, and the rest of the long arms sticking out from the ground pulled beneath the surface as it gave a final death rattle.

"Nice." Ashei tried not to let her unsteadiness creep into her voice. She hadn't seen a creature like that ever before, and the corpulent mass of flesh had unnerved her.

"I think I'll save wolf form for when we really need it. My sword arm will be of more use if we come across more monsters." As Ashei nodded in agreement, a swirl of golden light towards the back end of the room drew their attention. A heavy wooden chest appeared amidst the lights before they faded; the raven-haired adventurer had seen similar magic a score of times before – it seemed strange, how almost all dungeons, abandoned temples and ruined complexes used the same magic to keep their treasures hidden, but she had a very limited knowledge regarding the Art, so perhaps it made sense on some level.

Link moved towards the chest; he hadn't seemed surprised at its appearance, no doubt due to his own similar experiences in dungeons. Sheathing his weapon and putting up his shield, a deft flick of his boot sent the lid of the strongbox flying open, and he bent down to examine the contents before lifting them out and holding them up with both hands for Ashei to see. The pair of golden, metallic sandals worked with tiny wings at the heel glinted in the dim light, and the adventurer pursed her lips at the size of them until she realised they were designed to fit _over_ a pair of boots. They appeared to be magical, but she had no clue as to their abilities.

"No doubt these will play an integral role in navigating this place." Link sighed and rolled his eyes, quite obviously bored by the sameness of it all, and Ashei chuckled.

"No doubt." Ashei frowned for a second, remembering the room with the bird statue and the chasm. "Put them on and see what happens."

- - - - - -

Princess Zelda paced the length of the Light Spirit's spring furiously, her eyes filled with fire as she muttered impotently under her breath. She hated having to stay back and wait for the knight's return; she hated not knowing what was happening. It had been three hours since the small party of Royal Knights had ventured into the Shadow Temple, and she was beginning to think something had gone wrong. She shot a glare at a pair of liveried soldiers that stood watch at the edge of the spring, and they shrank back under her hard gaze before she turned away. So preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn't noticed the golden light playing across the waters until the giant owl-like bird of Eldin had almost fully coalesced above the spring.

A soft voice spoke clearly in her head as she turned, her eyes widening. "I welcome you to my spring, Princess."

"Eldin." Zelda breathed. Regaining her composure immediately, she gave a deep curtsy to the golden spirit. "I am honoured by your presence." She had not seen any of the Goddess's Light Spirits since the final battle with Ganondorf, during which they had bestowed upon her the Arrows of Light that she had used during that fight. The Arrows were now safely hidden in a secret vault in Hyrule Castle, and would stay there until the day she or one of her descendants once again had need of them. Glancing at the soldiers that were standing guard, she realised she must look like she was talking to herself – only those strong in spirit were able to actually see the Spirits of Light, and there were few in the world who had courage and strength enough to discern them.

"I come with a warning. There is great danger here." Eldin's reverberating voice held a hint of worry – something unusual to hear from a being of light.

The princess's brow creased as her attention went back to the spirit. "Danger?"

"I sense the emanations of magic nearby, carrying the taint of Twilight."

"Oh." She blinked. "It's alright. The Twili have not returned. Link has obtained a tunic that allows him to draw on the Twilight."

Eldin made a gesture that vaguely reminded the princess of a headshake. "The magic is weakening the seal that binds the Other. If this magic is used in too close a vicinity to the Other's prison, it may be enough for the beast to break free."

"The Other?"

The spirit paused, as if trying to recall something buried deep in its memories. "The Twilight Invasion was not the first instance of the Twilight Realm touching the World of Light. In an age long ago, a being of darkness and shadow crossed over into our world. At the time the Sheikah protectors of the Royal Family, being strongly tied to the shadow, used their knowledge to capture the beast and imprison it before it could cause damage to our world."

Zelda suddenly felt sick to her stomach, and she had to fight to keep her voice steady. "I… see. What is this being of shadow? Where was it imprisoned?"

"The Spirits of Light here in Hyrule have their malevolent equivalents in the Twilight Realm. It was one of these Twilight Spirits that was bound beneath the Shadow Temple, under the graveyard of Kakariko. Most of the seals on the Other's prison were shattered when the Twilight draped itself over this region, and now only a single seal remains. I fear that if the source of the shadow magic draws any closer to the Other's prison, the final warding will fail."

Her blood running cold, and Zelda struggled to keep her face smooth and calm as she gave another, smaller curtsy. "Thank you for the warning, Eldin. Even now, my knights are in the process of stopping the source of the shadow magic from journeying any further into the Shadow Temple. With luck, they will reach it in time." Regardless of whether they reached Link in time, surely this Twilight Spirit would be nowhere near as powerful as the likes of Ganondorf or the usurper king Zant. If it did break free, the golden-haired knight would be able to deal with it, even without the Master Sword. Wouldn't he?

The Light Spirit's tone did not waver as its body dissipated in a faint shimmer of golden particles, and its words hung in the air even after the spirit had completely vanished. "I pray that they do."

Despite herself, Zelda bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

- - - - - -

The duo's investigation of the Shadow Temple went much as Link had anticipated. Despite its own particular quirks and idiosyncrasies, the abandoned temple was much like any of the other dungeons that he had explored in his career. Various puzzles and traps were scattered throughout the rooms of the complex, set to catch the foolish or the unwary, and the two of them slowly made their way past each in turn. Link transformed into his wolf shape whenever it seemed likely that something unseen lay ahead, and each time he did he revelled in the glorious feelings of his enhanced senses, his nose detecting intricate tapestries of smell that led him unerringly through mazes and out across what had seemed like gaping chasms.

The golden sandals came in handy as well, despite the fact that their lack of traction meant Link and Ashei went slipping about as if running on ice whenever they put them on. While wearing them, however, stepping out off a platform didn't mean a long fall and a swift death – it was possible to run short distances on empty air using nothing but the magic of the boots to keep oneself from falling. Hover Boots, Ashei had decided to call them. It was a simple name, and he couldn't think of any better, so Hover Boots they were.

They navigated chambers with giant, spinning scythe blades that spanned the entire width of the room and series of stone platforms suspended in seas of darkness, avoiding massive guillotines operated by unseen magical forces as they progressed deeper into the temple. Link had to use his impressive strength to pull and push a number of massive stone blocks, marked with the same crescent moon symbol they had seen earlier, to solve more puzzles, and lent Ashei one of his clawshots on more than one occasion when they had been needed. Sporadically, Link switched to his heavy Iron Boots and wrapped his arms around Ashei, anchoring her firmly as they bypassed fans that blew with enough force to send a person flying, or did the same while wearing the Hover Boots so they were blown over to a platform across a one of the many seemingly bottomless chasms.

Nearly every trap or obstacle they came across, from the spinning blades to the floating platforms, had an invisible counterpart at some point or another, and Link crossed them warily, shifting into his wolf form as necessary and guiding Ashei through. On more than one occasion, the raven-haired adventurer was slow to react and was almost cut by an invisible blade or barely caught the edge of an invisible platform, but she faced it all with a grim determination and Link felt his respect for her grow. He had known that she was an adventurer, but until now he hadn't realised she was easily his match when it came to dungeon-crawling. They made an excellent team, he had to admit; each pointing out things that the other had missed and working together seamlessly to overcome anything the temple could throw at them.

It didn't take long for them to find out that although it had been abandoned, the temple was far from empty. Skulltulas, Redeads, Gibdos, Keese, Beamos and other familiar foes fell before their flashing steel, and they even crossed paths with a number of Stalfos Knights as well – the skeletal warriors moved with uncanny grace and skill as they fought with sword and shield, their remains burning up and leaving nothing but a fine, ashy residue once killed. There were new enemies too, and at one point they were almost overcome by a horde of invisible, animate, severed hands. The maddening whispers seemed to follow them throughout the temple, always hovering just beyond the edge of hearing so that only snatches of phrases and words could be heard every now and then.

Eventually, they came upon a massive iron door, stained with age, with the same skull motif engraved upon it that they had seen repeatedly through the entire temple. The lock and chain barring it fell away easily once they made use of the large key they had happened upon earlier, and they headed inside.

The door hid a relatively small, circular room with worked stone serving as walls and floor, and with a roof that was so high as to disappear into darkness somewhere above them. The room was empty save for a massive circular iron plate on the floor, worked with the same skull motif that had been upon the door and inset into the stone with massive bolts the size of Link's fist.

Ashei carefully inspected the metal disk before stepping out onto it. Walking to the centre, she shrugged at Link. "What do you think? Something hidden around here?"

"Only one way to find out." The knight concentrated on his wolf form, but as the Twilight energy swirled around his body and changed him, he felt a disturbance in the magic. Falling to his forepaws, he heard the iron disk that Ashei stood on groan, and before she had a chance to move it collapsed beneath her feet, sending her plummeting downwards with a shriek. Link lunged towards the lip of the hole, but it was too late, and he watched on in panic as she fell down into the blackness. His enhanced wolf senses could make out some sort of platform far beneath her, and he forced himself to watch as she impacted.

Ashei's scream cut off abruptly, but instead of being accompanied by the sickening sound of her body hitting solid stone, there was a dull thump and she bounced back into the air, tumbling once or twice before landing and bouncing again, then again before coming to rest. Not content to stand and wait, Link leapt from the top and landed beside her, bouncing several times before he steadied himself and thrust his lupine nose into her face, trying to see if she was alright. The 'ground' beneath his paws had the feel of cloth or leather, stretched taut – in the back of his mind he noted dimly that it might well be human skin, though how it had been treated to make it strong enough to hold their weight was a matter he had no insight into.

"Blech! Get out of my face." Ashei pushed him away as she struggled to her feet. "Your nose is cold and I don't particularly feel like being covered in wolf drool. If you want to slobber all over me, change back into your normal body." If Link had been in his normal form, he would have turned bright red. He was glad that she was unhurt, though.

A hollow thud reverberated through the room and they bounced into the air as the ground leapt beneath them – the pair both managed to keep their footing as they landed and spun to face the source of the disturbance. A pair of massive, disembodied floating hands had appeared above the surface of the ground with thick sausage-like fingers as big around as one of the Ordon goats that Link used to wrassle. Mottled grey flesh hung in flabby folds from the appendages, and Link and Ashei bounced in the air as they struck the surface of the ground rhythmically with their palms, and the young knight slowly realised that the pair of them were actually standing on some sort of massive drum.

Looking over, he noticed that Ashei had drawn her blade and was eyeing the hands warily. Out of the corner of his eye, the wolf caught a vague glimpse of a grey-skinned body and elephantine face with the red, glowing maw that was common to many creatures of the Twilight, but when he turned his head it vanished as if it had been there, but he could feel it on the edge of his perception, his enhanced lupine senses lending him the ability to discern it even despite its invisibility. Link was startled at first; he had already investigated a connection between the Shiekah and the Twilight Realm and come up empty-handed, yet judging from the mouth of the thing this monster was definitely from that dark realm – what was it doing down here in an abandoned Shiekah temple?

The pair of gargantuan hands halted their drumming suddenly, floating rapidly around the drum as Link crouched low in a defensive position. It was hard to regain his balance so quickly on the springy material he stood upon, but he managed to roll to the side as one of the hands lunged at him, curled into a massive fist, narrowly missing as he tumbled away.

The hand that had attacked him resumed its rhythmic drumming and the other hand came around for a swipe at Ashei, who tried to take a swing at it with her sword. The fist struck her hard and she was knocked backwards several feet, landing on her back, but she quickly scrambled back to her feet and tried to regain her footing while the steady drumming continued. Unsure of how his wolf form would fare in this battle, Link hurriedly shifted back to his normal body, drawing his sword and shield in one smooth motion as he readied himself for combat. The hands didn't wait for him, taking another series of swipes at the two adventurers – Link attempted a spinning attack as he narrowly sidestepped the hand, but despite its bulk the appendage moved with uncanny speed and his blade sliced impotently through empty air.

Suddenly, the hand changed direction and flew skyward, flattening into an open palm before slamming downwards on the space Link had occupied a split-second earlier. The hands alternated between maintaining the beating of the drum and attacking the pair – neither Link nor Ashei was able to land a solid blow on the fast-moving appendages as they fought, and twice more the raven-haired adventurer was sent sprawling by a well-aimed fist hitting her like an avalanche of grey flesh. Each time, she had more and more difficulty struggling to her feet, and a stream of blood poured steadily down her face from a long gash on her forehead where her own sword had caught her. His reflexes faster than Ashei's, Link was caught on the shoulder once by one of the hands before he sheathed his sword and exchanged the shield in his hand for the bow on his back, and he loosed a feathered shaft just as one of the hands pulled back to come in for another strike.

The arrow struck the appendage solidly, and Link heard a frantic grunting as the hand began to shake wildly, seemingly in pain and trying to dislodge the shaft. Looking over to where Ashei had just avoided another hit from the other hand, he yelled at her to get her attention before tumbling over and passing the bow into her hands. She reached out a hand and withdrew an arrow from the quiver at his back as he rolled past, nocking it and releasing in a single motion as black energies swirled around him and he returned to his wolf form.

Both hands were trembling and attempting to dislodge the shafts that had bitten deep into their flesh now, the two adventurers seemingly forgotten, and Link used the opportunity to pinpoint the location of what he assumed was the main body of the beast with his enhanced senses. Ducking under the hands while they still had the creature distracted, he lunged forward and smashed into the creature's flower-like trunk. It gave a bellow of pain and sank to the ground, its invisibility dispelled; Link realised that his strike must have confused it and caused it to inadvertently shut off whatever ability it had to make itself unseen. Taking advantage of this second opportunity, he transformed back into his hylian form while still in midair and hit the ground, turning and unsheathing his blade in one fluid movement and slashing savagely at the beast. It cried out in pain and hatred, trying to struggle back into the air, but he gave it no quarter, and a split second later Ashei was there beside him, hacking away at the monster with her own blade.

The creature gave an agonising shriek, flailing wildly for a moment before it finally lay still. Link took an involuntary step backwards as the monster's body began to darken and deform, slowly dissolving into a steaming puddle of a black, tar-like substance. Looking over he saw Ashei wrinkle her nose in disgust as the viscous liquid evaporated rapidly, leaving behind no trace of the creature. Spinning his sword around his hand in a practiced gesture, Link sheathed it with flourish before he held out a hand for his bow. "Good work."

Despite her injuries, Ashei gave a wry grin and slapped Link's bow down into his palm before limping past him. "You're not too bad yourself, hero. What now?"

"Like as not, the ocarina is probably somewhere in this chamber." He scanned the darkness with steely eyes, trying to find some clue as to their next move. "We'll cover more ground if we split up. Be careful and yell if you find anything." It would be soon, now. Very soon, the Ocarina of Time would be in his possession and he would be well on his way to regaining the Master Sword. He just hoped Tuli would be able to supply him with the melodies he would need for the ocarina to allow him to attain his goal of reuniting with Midna.


	10. Chapter 9

_Chapter Nine_

Bain flattened himself against the masoned wall of the corridor, wincing as his steel spaulder scraped against the stone faintly. His breath was coming in short, fast gasps now, and the hands against his chest holding his large sword trembled slightly, his knuckles white. Looking over at where Talis stood propped up against the door of the last room they had been in; blood streamed down one side of the older knight's body from a long gash that an invisible blade had carved into his shoulder in that chamber, but others hadn't been so lucky.

He blinked rapidly, trying to scour away the image of Guaire that had imprinted itself on his memory – the noble-born knight's once blonde hair scarlet with his own blood as his body lay on the ground, neatly sliced in two by some invisible force. Worse still had been Davian, his long guisarme a useless defence against the swarm of tiny, invisible _things_ that had torn him apart. The last thing Bain had seen of him had been his face, frozen in a mask of abject terror as he plummeted off a floating platform and down into the endless dark, and the red-haired knight could still hear Falion's horrified shriek as the dark-skinned female knight had been wrenched upwards by a giant, disembodied hand – her cries had cut short soon after, her fate hidden by the darkness that cloaked the massively high ceiling. Now, Bain and Talis were all that remained of the five-strong party of Royal Knights that had entered the Shadow Temple.

He was no stranger to fighting for his life, but this place, filled with unseen dangers and lurking horrors, frightened him. There were signs that Link and Ashei had already passed through these areas, seemingly with much less difficulty – here a puzzle was already solved, leaving a door wide open for the knights to continue through that chamber unhindered, there stood an empty wooden strongbox, the remains of a slain Gibdo lying beside it. He hoped that Talis and he could catch up to the adventurers soon; if the two knights were forced to push on much further alone, their fate would surely match that of their comrades. Princess Zelda could not have realised that this would turn out to be a suicide mission for the knights, but Bain still felt a tinge of resentment towards the monarch for sending them down here half-cocked, with no real clue as to what to expect.

Talis stumbled over to where the red-haired knight was surveying the corridor and leant heavily against the wall, his breathing laboured. Bain looked at the older man's wound with concern. "Are you able to continue?"

Despite his injury, Talis straightened and nodded. Flexing his shoulder, he winced in pain as the motion stained the makeshift bandage the injury had been bound with bright red with a fresh flood of his blood. "This place is massive, but Link can't be too much further ahead of us."

Bain snorted. "If we have a chance of reaching him at all."

The older knight reached out with his unhurt arm and placed a heavy gauntleted hand on Bain's shoulder in a fatherly gesture. "It's alright; we're going to make it out of this." His voice was steady, without any traces of fear or worry creeping into the tone, but Bain flicked his shoulder to remove the hand and fixed him with a level glare.

"You don't need to feed me false reassurances, old man." Suddenly, the sound of footsteps coming down the corridor up ahead made him freeze in unreasoning terror, every muscle in his body tense, his hands squeezing the hilt of his massive two-handed sword tight. Talis reacted almost instantaneously, drawing his sword from the scabbard on his back in a motion so fast that the younger knight barely saw him move; the blade seemingly appearing in his hand from nowhere.

The footsteps drew closer, and Bain relaxed as he heard a pair of familiar voices. He grinned over at Talis and released a breath he didn't realise he had been holding. Moving cautiously ahead, still scanned every shadow with a wary eye, he headed up the corridor to meet with Link and Ashei.

- - - - - -

Link strode evenly out of Kakariko graveyard and into the village proper, full of barely-contained righteous fury. Three good knights had died today; died for nothing. First Zelda deceived him and manipulated Tuli into lying to him, and now she had sent good men to their deaths because she was too much of a fool to realise he was big enough to look after himself. It was too much. She needed to listen to him. He would _make_ her listen to him.

Ashei sauntered along a pace behind him, and despite her lazy pace she kept up with him easily. Bain and Talis flanked him, their haggard faces betraying the trials they had endured in the Shadow Temple beneath the graveyard. The princess was standing out the front of the Elde Inn, a handful of Royal Knights to either side of her and liveried soldiers to the north and south, blocking passage out of the village.

Princess Zelda stood still as Link approached, seemingly a statue carved from marble – her glare hard enough to bore holes through solid stone. The young knight kept his pace slow and leisurely, taking his time in reaching her. Coming to a halt several feet in front of her, Link squared off with the monarch, matching her gaze evenly. "You have a lot to answer for, Link." The princess's tone matched her expression, cold and harsh. Blinking as if taken aback, she looked to either side of him, taking in Bain and Talis. "Where are the rest of the knights?"

"I'm not the one who has a lot to answer for, princess. Guaire, Davian and Falion are dead; fallen prey to the evils of the Shadow Temple. Their blood is on _your_ hands." Link's face was twisted into an ugly scowl, and

Turning her head to the side for a moment, a remorseful expression on her face, the princess sighed. Looking back at him, her gaze had softened, but her words were clipped and precise. "It grieves me to hear of their fate, but I would _not_ have had to send them into the temple had you not run off like some brash child in pursuit of your own selfish desires without a thought to the consequences that would arise from your actions."

"Don't talk to _me_ about consequences!" Link almost snarled as he spoke, thrusting a finger in the princess's direction. "Maybe _you_ should have thought more on the consequences of lying to me and forcing Tuli to go along with your deceptions."

Zelda's face had coloured pink now, and she hissed between clenched teeth, obviously trying and failing to keep her anger in check. "You have no idea of the evil you could have unleashed upon Hyrule from your presence in that temple! The shadow magic that fuels your new tunic could have awakened a Twilight Spirit of immense power that was imprisoned there!"

"What, you mean the Twilight beast we fought and killed?" Link gave a sarcastic laugh. "I'm not a child, I can look after myself. I don't need you trying to tell me what I can and can't handle. Those knight's lives were thrown away needlessly. You had no right to send them after me."

Her voice almost a yell, the monarch bared her teeth. "I am the Princess; I had _every_ right. _That_ is not the issue here! Your disobedience-"

Link's voice raised a few more decibels as he cut her off. "Disobedience?! Tell me, _princess_, can you name even one occasion where I haven't obeyed your orders to the letter? What you mean to say is you resent my persistence in finding a path to the Twilight Realm! That _is_ why you manipulated Tuli against me, isn't it?"

"You needed to stop following every single clue that smelt like it would lead you to the Twilight Realm. It's been months – months! – since Midna returned to her world and shattered the Twilight Mirror. That long ago and you're still wasting all your time on something that you should have learned by now was in vain, when there is so much else you could be doing! She is _gone_ and Hyrule has need of your strength!"

Taking a deep breath, Link glowered at the princess, his fists tightly balled by his sides. "I love Midna! I can't just give up on her! I suppose I can't expect someone like you to understand that. You don't have time for anything or anyone except your precious crown. Sacrifices must be made for the greater good; isn't that right, princess?" The young knight's words dripped venom.

Zelda's face was contorted in rage, the deep red turning to purple. "Watch your tongue, _boy_! You may be a hero, but that does not give you the right to talk to _me_ like that."

Shaking his head, Link threw hands up in frustration. "I've had enough of this. I have the ocarina. I _will_ use its power to reunite myself with Midna, and you can be sure I won't be sending good men to their deaths while I do so." He reached inside his tunic to pull out the horsecall that hung from the leather thong around his neck.

"Have you even thought this _through_? Using the Ocarina of Time could have dire consequences!"

Link had no idea what she meant, but he forged on, refusing to concede any ground. "I'm well aware of the dangers." He lied. "I know I can do this." He lifted the horseshoe-shaped whistle to his lips and blew a few short notes before tucking it back into his tunic and glared at her defiantly.

Zelda had managed to steady her voice now, but there was a dangerous edge to her tone that Link had never heard before. "No, you _cannot_. I forbid it."

Outrage coloured Link's face an even deeper red than it had already been, and he spat out his next words like the crack of a whip. "You _what_?"

"You are a Royal Knight, and it's about time you damn well acted like one!" Zelda drew herself up, her eyes blazing – even though she hadn't regained her composure completely, she still radiated command and authority in the way only a monarch could. "I _order_ you to hand over the Ocarina of Time and forget this foolishness."

Link was silent for a few seconds after this, his eyes downcast. Finally he lifted his gaze to meet hers once again, a pained expression painted across his face. "If this is what comes of being a knight in your service, _your majesty_, then perhaps I should have thought my decision to become one through a bit harder." Epona cantered up at that moment, pulling alongside the young knight and whickering quietly as he raised a hand to touch her nose, sensing his mood. Sighing, the young hero reached behind his back to unclasp his shield. Holding the kite in both hands with the front facing him, he studied it for a moment. The Hylian shield was a symbol borne proudly by knights, its crest celebrating the Royal Family and their dedication to the kingdom; he had owned it since long before he actually became a knight, but in his mind it had always been a solid connection to the current monarch. His voice shook, but he forced himself to enunciate his words clearly as he tossed the shield to the dirt at Zelda's feet. "I renounce my status as a Knight of Hyrule." He heard the sharp intakes of breath from either side of him as he started to turn to Epona. "Come on, Ashei, let's go."

Zelda was looking down at the shield; her face ashen. "I swear to the Goddesses, Link. Stop this _right now_ or I'll-"

"You'll _what_?" The former knight stopped dead in his tracks and turned his head to look back at the princess. He wasn't angry any more. He had gone beyond it. He just felt... tired.

The princess's lips compressed into a thin line at his tone, and her words were filled with acid as she spat them out. "You know what? Fine. You brought this on yourself." Glancing towards the helmeted knight that stood stiffly to her left, she nodded towards Link. "Arrest him."

Link's sword was in his hand in a flash, and he held it out warningly, causing the knights near Princess Zelda to hesitate. "Stay back!" Gesturing with the blade, he glared at the monarch. "You will _not_ dissuade me from this course of action, princess." With his free hand, he reached behind him blindly and found Ashei's side, pushing her towards Epona. "Ashei, get on the horse." The knights had their weapons out now, eyeing him cautiously as they reluctantly started to close in, but they made no move to stop Ashei from mounting. Putting a hand on the reins and a foot in the stirrup to pull himself up in front of the raven-haired adventurer, Link froze as Zelda gave another order.

"Crossbows!"

He looked at her in disbelief, then sighed ruefully and rolled his eyes. "Are you really going to have me _shot_? I can imagine _that_ will go over really well with your people. The saviour of Hyrule, the only reason the entire kingdom wasn't consumed by the evil of Ganon, riddled with crossbow bolts at the command of Princess Zelda."

"Someone do _something_ before he gets on that horse!" Zelda's voice was shrill.

Next to Link, Bain was regarding him with a confused expression on his face, his hand hesitantly moving up to draw his large, two-handed sword. Link dropped his voice and tilted his head towards the red-haired knight. "Don't. This is madness, and you know it." He nodded thoughtfully when Bain dropped his hand back to his side, then sheathed his own sword before bouncing on his heel and swinging himself up onto Epona. Casting his eyes out over the gathering once before fixing the fuming princess with an even look, the former knight spoke in a soft tone, digging his heels into his horse's flanks. "I'm going to head to the Sacred Grove now and retrieve the Master Sword. If you don't like it... try and stop me." Ashei's arms tightened around him, and Epona's hooves tossed up a cloud of dust as she surged forward, scattering the soldiers that blocked passage south out of the village as she galloped past.

Behind them, Link heard Zelda screaming at the knights. "Bring the horses! Don't let him get away, you imbeciles!"

As they rode past the Light Spirit's spring, leaving Kakariko behind, Ashei laughed in delight. "I can't believe you just did that! Did you see her _face_? That was funny as _hell_." Squeezing him tighter, she sat up a bit higher and lent forward so that her nose brushed the back of his earlobe, her voice husky. "Epona's fast, she'll outrun them easily enough, yeah? What do you say we find somewhere to pull over and..."

Link wasn't listening. His face fixed in a mask of grim determination, he was instead going over his argument with the princess in his head. There should have been another way, but she positively infuriated him. Arrest _him_! How dare she? He shifted uncomfortably in the saddle, suddenly very aware of his missing shield. He was no longer a Royal Knight. He felt like a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders, but also as though he had been kicked in the gut. Was he sad? Angry? He didn't know any more. Someone else was bothering him, too. What had Zelda meant by consequences of using the ocarina? He would need to talk to Tuli about it when she met up with them at the Sacred Grove, she would know. Gritting his teeth, he urged Epona on towards their destination.

- - - - - -

Link ran a gauntleted hand across the sheet of parchment that sat on the large oak workbench, his fingers tracing the musical notes delicately scribed upon it. Scattered magical apparatuses and objects lay haphazardly across the wooden surface, crystals, oddly intricate pieces of golden filigree, and other materials that Link had noted were common to most wizzrobe's studies. The melody on the parchment was the final result of months of work on Tuli's part, and he had been patient in waiting for its completion. Once he had received the archmage's summons, he had headed to her sanctum without delay – today would be the day. Today, he would make amends for his past mistakes, and start his search for Midna afresh, with the knowledge of past experiences to guide him this time. He would not ruin this chance.

Behind him, Tuli had just finished preparing the area they were to leave from. The magical Triforce symbol she had created on the floor glittered golden in the flickering light from her staff, which stood propped up in one corner of the chamber. Link stepped back from the table smartly as she strode up to it, her robes rustling around her ankles. He had gotten the general gist of the tune, but would need more time to examine the parchment before he could actually play it. He would need to be careful that it wasn't damaged.

"Preparations are complete, then? What time will we be arriving?"

The archmage frowned past him, seemingly going over something in her head. "The timing is as precise as I could get it – the day will be right, and we should appear sometime in the morning."

"'Should'? You mean we may be too late to stop my younger self from obtaining the ocarina?" That it may be beyond Tuli's ability to correctly calibrate a melody for this task was a prospect that had not even crossed Link's mind when he had asked it of her.

She shook her head, seemingly more at the concerned look he had given her than his words. "It's a possibility, but that won't be a problem so long as we appear before he arrives at the Sacred Grove to reclaim the Master Sword. I'm completely certain that that will be the case."

Link nodded slowly. That would have to do, he supposed. It's not like he had any other alternative at this stage. "Shall we do this, then?"

Tuli turned to the thick table to gather up several bit of paraphernalia, tucking several small magical items into pouches concealed in her robes before reaching for the parchment with the melody scribed upon it. As the archmage turned her back, Link eased the Master Sword out of its scabbard, wincing as it came into contact with his gauntlet. The uncomfortable feeling he had gotten from handling the blade had deepened to the point where it physically hurt to hold it, but he forced himself to put it out of his mind as he came up behind his companion as quietly as a shadow. Sliding the sword around faster than the eye could see, he pressed its blade against Tuli's neck and collarbone as his other hand snaked around to hold her steady, her back braced against his body. Bringing his mouth close to her ear, he spoke quickly and quietly. "If I see or hear anything that even remotely resembles casting a spell, I will kill you without a word."

Tuli's body had stiffened as soon as he had touched her, but her voice was calm and steady as she spoke. "Why haven't you done so already?"

"I just... I wanted..." Link's voice faltered, taken aback slightly by her lack of a reaction. He swallowed hard and continued in a hoarse whisper. "I'm sorry, Tuli. For everything. For how I treated you. For what you had to go through." He paused. "For what I'm about to do."

"...Hearing you say that, with that sincerity in your voice, definitely made this worth it." The tone the archmage spoke in was one well known to him. He had heard it often as she nodded to herself in satisfaction after puzzling out some problem she had been having difficulty with. Back then, hearing her speak like that would have made him smile, but right now it confused him even more.

"I... wait." Realization slowly dawned on him and he breathed in sharply, his brow furrowed. "You knew, didn't you? You knew I was going to kill you here."

"I did."

"And you did as I asked anyway? You came, even though you knew you were going to die? If you had attacked first… I wouldn't have been expecting it. You could have-"

She cut him off. "I don't want to kill you, Link. I just... I needed to hear you say those words."

Link could feel tears starting to well up in the corners of his eyes. "Why not? After everything that's happened... why don't you want to kill me?"

"You already know the answer to that."

"I... have to do this, don't I?" His voice cracked and his body shuddered as he tried vainly to regain some semblance of composure. "You won't let me do what I need to do. If we travelled back together, like we agreed, and I successfully stopped any of this from ever happening, our timeline would cease to be, but we would still exist... I could use the ocarina to find Midna and everything would be ok. Don't you see?"

A soft sigh was his reply, and when she replied her voice held nothing but sorrow. "Link... you still don't understand. Even after all this, you're prepared to keep using that _thing_? What if you make more mistakes? What if you ruin the timeline again?"

"I'll be careful! I can _do_ this! I... please, let me." Despite the sword pressed to Tuli's throat, he felt like _he_ was the one at _her_ mercy. The Master Sword felt like it was made of molten lead, so heavy he could barely keep it lifted, the hilt scalding his hand through the cracked leather of his gauntlet.

Tuli shook her head slightly, as much as she could without cutting herself. "I cannot, and deep down you know it. After you prevented yourself from using the ocarina for the first time, I would confiscate both it and the one you hold now. It is too dangerous to be used ever again unless the need is dire."

"What if I just... let you go?" A touch of wild hope tinged his voice.

"I would destroy the parchment with a thought. I can recall its contents from memory, but you haven't had time to memorise it. I would take the ocarina from you and travel back by myself." The archmage's voice had gone hard and cold as ice. "I don't want to kill you, but I _will_ hurt you."

It was Link's turn to sigh. "Damn it, why do you need to make this so hard for me, Tuli?"

"Because I refuse to walk the same path as you. 'When good men do nothing, that is evil enough.' I won't let that be me."

His eyes widening in alarm, Link choked on his words as he forced them out. "What? You think I'm...?"

"You tell me. How does the Master Sword feel? Is it still as comfortable and righteous as ever in your hand as you press it against the throat of an unarmed woman, thoughts of murder clear in your mind? It's not called 'the sword of evil's bane' for no reason." Her tone conjured up an image of her as she once had been, her face whole and beautiful, a rueful expression on her face, shaking her head.

She couldn't have known about the sword. It was impossible. It had to be a guess – but if it was a guess, that meant it was also a correct one. "You're wrong. I'm not. I can't..." The words caught in his throat.

"You can't stop. I know."

They stood there in silence, pressed together like lovers, for what seemed like an eternity before he finally spoke again. His voice had lost all traces of its previous emotion, now, and his quiet tone carried with it a seemingly simply statement of fact. "Everything I've done, I can't have done it for nothing. There's too much. It's… all I have left."

"I know." Though he couldn't see her face, he could hear her wistful smile in her voice. "It's time. Get it over with quickly." She straightened up, holding her head high and presenting her neck to his sword.

"...Goodbye, Tuli." 

"Goodbye, Link." The archmage's voice trailed off as his blade sliced across her throat and opened her veins. She coughed up blood, twitching violently, as her final breath rattled in her throat. Link braced her body as she started to stagger backwards, dropping the Master Sword to the marble tiles and falling to his knees as he cradled her in his arms. Looking into her eyes as they turned dull and glassy, he held her to his breast, touching his forehead to hers, and wept.


	11. Chapter 10

_Chapter Ten_

Humming to herself quietly, Tuli's eyes scanned the pages of the volume sitting open on her lap, rapidly absorbing the information contained therein and searching for some hint of what she sought. On her arrival earlier in the day, she had thrown her spare horse blanket over the moss-covered stone of a knee-high section of one of the ruined walls of the Temple of Time and sat down to peruse one of the books she had brought with her from the Hyrule Castle library. She had been here for a number of hours now, leaving her seat only to stretch her legs occasionally, waiting for Link to arrive. She didn't dare open the door to the temple by herself, so she contented herself with performing some last-minute research on the Ocarina of Time. Delicately touching the tip of her index finger with her tongue, she used the moistened digit to gently turn the page of the aging tome and continued to read.

Etain stood nearby, cropping at the overgrown weeds that choked the ruins around them, her reins tied to a low hanging branch of one of the trees lining the edges of the clearing that the remains of the temple stood in. The gelding seemed content enough after their ride here, despite Tuli's awkward attempt at rubbing her down – the scholar had noticed that the few animals she had seen here all seemed much more peaceful than normal, as if the Sacred Grove exerted some sort of calming influence on them. Sitting there on her little perch reading her book, she could almost feel it herself, an inner tranquillity that overrode all other emotions and left her with just a simple sense of peace.

Tuli had slipped away from her guards at the castle easily enough – a new spell she had learned recently that allowed her to discorporate her body into a fine mist had served as a perfect method of slipping out of her room unseen, and a thump on the back of the head from one of her heavy tomes had ensured that the stablehand saw nothing when she collected her horse. The guards at the gate had been easily fooled by a glamour concealing her true features behind those of a wizened old woman riding a small donkey, and beyond that she had had a straightforward ride down through Hyrule Field to the place she had agreed to meet Link.

Luckily for Tuli, all of Princess Zelda's court wizzrobes had been slain in the Twilight Invasion, and suitable replacements had yet to be found, so there was no one in the castle who had been able to discern her spells. The princess seemed to believe that magic was just a hobby for the scholar and that she wasn't capable of much more than parlour tricks, but Tuli had had more than a little training in the Art by a master. The magic she had used to escape the castle had exhausted her, of course. She was only an apprentice-level wizzrobe, after all, but she still felt immensely satisfied that the princess's doubts regarding her abilities were misguided.

She continued to read even when she heard a horse approaching, right up until a shadow fell across her book, blocking the already failing sunlight she had been using to read by. "You took longer than I was expecting." The scholar said mildly, not looking up from the page. She reached into her robe and withdrew an ivory marker to place in between the pages so that she wouldn't lose her place before she finally closed the tome and glanced up to see Link standing over her, a pensive expression on his face. "Everything alright?"

Link sighed heavily and shook his head. "No, not really." Behind him, Tuli could see Ashei patting Epona on the nose and whispering gently – the adventurer looked frustrated, and she shot Tuli an annoyed glance before firmly turning her back, while continuing to pet the horse.

"I take it the princess caught up with you." Tuli stood, her eyes searching his face for some clue as to the events that transpired in her absence. "What happened?"

"It doesn't matter now. I have the ocarina." He patted one of the pouches on his belt with a gauntleted hand. "What have you got for me?"

"Well… like I said, I've managed to collect a heap of information regarding the ocarina and its past usage, but I'm not sure what is going to be useful and what's a waste of time. The ocarina needs to have a specially attuned magical melody played upon it to have any effect, and I've managed to scrounge up what I believe may be a few of these compositions." The scholar strode over to where Etain stood as she talked, removing her brown leather travelling case from the spacious cargo-bag she had affixed behind the mount's saddle. Unbuckling the clasps, she slid the tome she had been reading back inside and hefted it with one hand, displaying the manuscripts and parchment scrolls within briefly. "I'm not sure of their effects yet, or if there are other conditions that must be met for them to function correctly, but I believe that you will definitely need the Master Sword to maximise your chances of being successful."

The golden-haired warrior still had that same brooding expression on his face, as if he was in the midst of some sort of internal struggle over something. "What are the risks of using the ocarina?"

"Risks?" Tuli paused and looked at him closely. "It's hard to really predict what the outcome of any change you make in the past is going to be. Every day, the decisions you make and the actions you take ripple outwards to affect everything. This is similar. Ripples will spread outwards from anything you do in the past and affect the future."

Ashei sauntered over as the scholar spoke and walked past Link, turning to regard him with a cold eye. "We don't have time for this." She interrupted. "The princess and her soldiers could be here any second – let's get in, get the sword, then get out of here."

Link blinked and looked away, hesitating for a few moments before he responded. "You're right. We can talk about this later. The important thing right now is getting the sword."

"Right." Tuli nodded and slung the case over her shoulder. "Lead the way."

- - - - - -

Link lowered the Ocarina of Time from his cracked lips, gauging his location from a quick glance around as he made to stow it back into its usual pouch at his belt. From the golden, sun-kissed cliff next to him and the breathtakingly scenic view of Kakariko village below, it seemed he had been transported somewhere high on Death Mountain. Of course... Tuli would have picked a location close to the Shadow Temple so that he would be able to reach it quickly.

Cursing softly under his breath as he noted how low the sun hung on the horizon, he realised that the Shadow Temple was not the place he needed to be. "The Goddesses burn that accursed wizzrobe! I'm almost too late to do anything!" The sun setting signified that the moment when his past self would place his hand on the Master Sword drew near – he would need to move fast if he was to avert the disaster that was about to occur.

Bringing the ocarina back up to his mouth, he belted out a series of short, piercing blasts. The Minuet of Forest wasn't meant to be played at such a fast pace, but he was in a hurry and he knew that the notes were all that really mattered, not the beat or the speed at which they were played. A shimmer of green-tinged magical energy swirled around him, and a moment later he was gone.

- - - - - -

Link walked slowly through the ruins of the Temple of Time, looking around at the familiar, moss-covered stone masonry as he made his way towards a section of free-standing wall, mainly intact despite the condition of the ruins. Coming to a halt in front of the wall, Link studied the portal they were about to pass through. The Door of Time stood before them, with the symbol of Hyrule's Royal Family carved upon its ancient stone face. The former knight took a quick glance out of the corner of each eye to observe the companions that flanked him.

Ashei had been reserved and icy since not long after they had fled Kakariko village, likely annoyed at him because he had been ignoring her advances, but Link could almost feel the anticipation radiating off her in waves. A flush borne of excitement had crept into her cheeks, and he didn't blame her. Ashei seemed to live for adventure, and everything so far had given an indication that this was probably going to be one of the biggest adventures she would ever have the chance to participate in.

To his other side, Tuli was fiddling with the strap of the leather case she had slung over one shoulder – where Ashei was brimming with eagerness, the young scholar was trembling like a leaf. Link didn't think that she had ever really been out of Hyrule Castle Town much before her visit to him in Kakariko, and to his eye it didn't seem she would really be much help past this point. She had some magical abilities, but her inexperience made her the most vulnerable member of their group. Once he had retrieved the Master Sword, he would need to find a safe place for her to stay while he and Ashei continued on. Maybe Rusl would be able to take her in until everything blew over.

Shaking his head, Link reached out with a hand and gently touched the stylized stone phoenix in the middle of the Door of Time before stepping back smartly. Reacting to his touch, the twin doors started to move slowly, hinges groaning in protest from years of neglect as they swung ponderously outwards. The view through the archway was drastically different to what a normal person would have anticipated. As the doors shifted, they revealed a vision of the interior of the temple in a time prior to whatever calamity had caused it to fall into ruin, but the image was muted and grey, rippling like a pond of disturbed water as the trio watched in silence.

Without a word, Link strode confidently through the grey portal. A blinding white light filled his vision as he crossed the threshold, but he did not falter, stepping through to the top of the banister-lined flight of stairs that, eventually, led to the pedestal that held the magical blade that he had used to defeat the Dark Lord Ganondorf all those months ago. A quick look behind him revealed Ashei and Tuli stumbling through after him, blinking in surprise and alarm from the bright light that had illuminated their passage through to the time-locked temple.

The cavernous room they now found themselves in was a sharp contrast to the ruins outside. The vaulted ceiling rose higher above their heads than even the great audience halls of Hyrule Castle, and the light grey stone of the masoned walls, free from the lichen and dirt that clung to the remains outside, and the matching floors lent the temple an air of quiet grandeur. Massive windows, so high on the walls that it was impossible to see anything through them, bathed the entire chamber in a soft, welcoming, yellow light despite the fact that only moments ago the sun had been on the brink of setting. Intricate ironwork fitted along with the glass in the frames of the casements were polished until even they shone with the reflected sunlight, and equally elaborate designs were etched into the very stone of the balustrade that encircled the balcony they stood upon and flanked the stairs leading down. Near the opposite wall, a pair of large statues much like the ones Link had encountered months ago out in the Sacred Grove flanked an open archway leading to the sword chamber.

"Amazing..." Tuli breathed, her voice full of wonder as Link grinned at her. The nervousness that he had sensed in her outside the door had melted away, and the scholar was rapidly turning her head this way and that, examining the room from every angle as she slowly made her way up to stand beside him.

Link turned back away and slowly descended the steps before him, hearing his footsteps echo hollowly in the huge chamber. Behind him, the adventurer and the scholar followed suite, but lagged further and further behind as he picked up his pace, flying down the steps quickly and across the elaborate Triforce symbol that dominated the floor in the centre of the room. Passing between the statues and through the archway, a small flight of stairs led him up to a smaller but equally impressive chamber.

This room was similar to the last in design, but smaller and circular in design, structured around the stepped dais upon which the Master Sword stood. The glass in the windows of this room were stained, and depicted fabulous patterns and intricacies that would have taken a legion of glassblowers lifetimes to make. Standing where he had left it once Ganondorf had fallen, the Sword of Evil's Bane sparkled in the light that filtered into the chamber. It was held point-first by a small pedestal in the very centre of the dais that dominated the room, and Link slowed his step as he approached.

Standing directly in front of the pedestal, he could feel his companion's eyes on him as he took a deep breath and reached out to grasp the royal purple hilt of the Master Sword. Suddenly, he heard Ashei cry out his name and a split second later, before he had time to even turn around, the raven-haired adventurer's shoulder slammed into him from behind, sending them sprawling to the left of the dais in a tangle of limbs. In the same moment, he caught a glimpse of a glowing orange object just as it impacted the hilt of the sword he had been standing in front of. The object detonated as it struck, and the searing wave of heat that washed over Link and Ashei left them gasping for air as they struggled to get to their feet.

Link found himself patting at his clothes unconsciously as he looked back down the way they had came – even though the flash of heat had lasted no more than a second or two, he felt like he was on fire. Framed in the archway that led into the room was a lone figure, and Link had to fight to stop his jaw from dropping even as his eyes widened in recognition. Standing there, a familiar bow half-lowered in his hand and with a scowl on his face was... him.

Ashei's eyes were passing unbelievingly from him to the newcomer rapidly, and Tuli, who had retreated to the far side of the room in the confusion, had a look of pure shock on her face. The figure gave a snort of derision and shouldered his bow, striding casually into the room as Link watched. His first impression had been that the newcomer was identical to him, but as he came closer the former knight could make out differences.

They were both clad in identical tunics, with identical caps and identical boots and gauntlets, but the clothes worn by the newcomer were worn and faded, as if from years of being ill-cared for, and a light but noticeable shadow of facial hair was spread across his jawbone. His eyes were sunken, with black circles underneath them as thick as if he hadn't slept in a week, and he flesh was pale and sallow. His eyes were cold and calculating, and a finger-long white scar ran horizontally across his left cheek, seemingly from an old sword wound.

The newcomer regarded him with an appraising eye for a moment, and in the lull Link cautiously drew his sword from his back. Behind him, he heard Ashei do the same, and he took a deep breath before calling out to the sickly-looking imposter. "Who are you? Why did you try to kill me?"

The figure only shook his head, a smirk on his face. "I wasn't aiming to kill, only to subdue." He spread his hands in a gesture of peace. "Perhaps I was slightly hasty; we should not need to resort to violence. As for who I am... I'm you, and I've come to prevent you from making a terrible mistake. You cannot use the Ocarina of Time."

Link's eyes narrowed. "This has to be a trick. Why don't you want me to use the ocarina? Did the princess send you?"

The figure's face twitched when Link mentioned the princess, and he spat out his next words as if they left a bad taste in his mouth. "No, I'm not one of _her_ lackeys – she will be here soon, though. You cannot go any further. Your plan is doomed to failure." He started to walk closer, but paused and scowled again when Link brandished his sword threateningly, seeming on the edge of drawing his own blade; unusually, the hilt poking out from behind his opponent's back was wrapped and padded in torn black swaddling.

"One step closer and I'll cut you down." The former knight assumed a fighting stance, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet as he sized up his opponent. The pale doppelganger even carried himself the same way Link did, the former knight noted in disgust.

His hands tightly balled into fists, the newcomer snarled at him. "Listen to me, you fool! Don't just think with your damnable sword! This isn't going to _work_! You're never going to see Midna again if you keep going along this path! Zelda will be here any moment and then everything will go to hell!"

Link shook his head. Regardless of what he said, the monarch must have sent him to delay the former knight while she caught up. "I have to try! After everything I've put into this, I can't just give up for no reason!"

The newcomer growled, reaching back to clasp the hilt of the blade at his back. "So be it. If you won't listen, I'll just have to stop you myself." Drawing his blade, he pointed the tip directly at Link as a wicked grin spread across his face, and he started to walk slowly towards him. The former knight didn't notice his foe's expression, his gaze instead fixed incredulously on the weapon that the newcomer had drawn.

Though the hilt was wrapped with torn black material, Link recognised it instantly as the blade he had wielded almost a year ago in his quest to defeat Ganondorf, the blade he had come here to claim – the Master Sword. He risked a glance over his shoulder at the pedestal behind him – no, the Master Sword was still sitting there, undisturbed. The fake blade must be a part of the trick, he decided, inching closer to the approaching imposter, clearing his mind so that he would be able to focus on the battle. "Ashei, stay out of this." He called absently. "I'll deal with him myself."

Link dodged to the right as the sallow-skinned warrior lunged forward with incredible speed, the edge of his blade scraping along the former knight's chest light enough not to break the fabric of his black tunic as he twisted out of the way. His opponent adapted to the evasion almost instantly, changing his thrust into a horizontal swipe without losing his momentum and causing Link to overbalance and fall backwards in an attempt to evade the razor-sharp weapon.

He hit the hard stone floor hard enough to knock the wind for his lungs, but had no chance to recover before his opponent's blade arced downwards towards his face. Sliding one of his feet in between his opponent's legs, he twisted on the ground, narrowly managing to move in time for the sword to strike the stone floor instead of his head. His other leg snaked around and locked around the other warrior's ankle and he wrenched savagely, driving his foe to his knees and sending the tip of the doppelganger's sword skittering across the stone in a shower of sparks. Bringing up his own blade in a horizontal slash, he forced the sallow-skinned warrior to flip and roll out of the way.

As his opponent moved out of the way, Link brought his knees up to his chest and kicked up in a kip-up manoeuvre, landing agilely on his feet and regaining his balance as he brought his sword around in a wary motion, settling into a defensive stance as the other warrior flicked himself back up onto his feet just as easily and launched back into a powerful attack.

Despite his initial reaction that the blade that the other man carried could not be the Master Sword, it was very rapidly becoming apparent to Link that the shining blade the sallow-skinned warrior held, pulsing with an unmistakable power, was indeed the sword that the former knight had come here to claim – but what, then, was sitting in the blade's place in the Pedestal of Time?

Link struggled to deflect each slash as his opponent rained a merciless onslaught of blows down upon him, managing to get in few swings of his own as he was backed towards the wall behind him. Ducking low under an arcing swing that had been meant for his neck, he tucked into a ball and rolled around behind his foe, springing to his feet in time to lock blades with the imposter. Link's muscles bulged as he tried to force his opponent back with brute strength, and the a small smile of triumph ghosted across his face as an expression of pain lanced across the other man's face, sending the sickly-looking warrior staggering backwards as Link crouched back into an open stance.

His eyebrows knitted together when his opponent flexed his hand on his sword's hilt as if injured, but it only took a second before the other man had regained his composure and launched himself at the ex-knight again. Link cut the renewed assault short by countering with a rapid series of vicious sword strokes, culminating in a powerful thrust – his opponent parried the first few attacks, but ducked low under the thrust in an awkward motion that left the former knight's legs open to attack. A look of surprise spread across the doppelganger's face as Link purposefully fed the momentum of his thrust, overbalancing himself and flicking himself into a tight somersault over his foe's head.

As he tumbled he twisted his body to land facing the sallow-skinner warrior, bringing his sword down in an impromptu version of his Jump Strike skill, but his foe brought up his blade to block the attack, bracing the tip of his blade in his empty palm. Pushing savagely, the doppelganger managed to knock Link back and he lashed out again with his sword, the razor-sharp blade skimming across the former knight's collarbone. The injury wasn't deep, but it bled profusely as they continued to fight, soaking the front of Link's tunic in his own blood.

The sound of booted feet on the stone floor of the temple echoing from the entry hall drew their attention, and after a few moments a trio of figures joined the scene. Princess Zelda had managed to maintain her proud dignity even though she must have ridden her horse into the dirt to catch up with them this quickly, and her presence filled the room as she swept into the sword chamber. Flanking her were Talis and Bain – the Royal Knights both had their swords drawn and scanned the room quickly as they entered, obviously put on guard by the sounds of the battle. It seemed unlikely that they would be alone – it was likely that the princess had left the rest of her guard outside of the Sacred Grove so as not to overly disturb the holy site.

Ashei and Tuli shied away as the entourage entered the chamber, but a word and gesture from Zelda had the knights advancing on them. Link took the time to make a cautionary gesture at Ashei so that she wouldn't try anything stupid, but he was too absorbed by his fight to fully take in what was happening on the other side of the room. When next he looked over Talis had a hold of Tuli and Bain had managed to relieve Ashei of her sword, but he didn't let himself worry over it. The important thing was that Zelda was simply standing and watching the fight, and the knights had made no move to interfere either.

The princess's appearance was incredibly bad timing – once Link had finished with his current foe he would likely have to face Talis and Bain, and who knew if he'd get an opportunity to fulfil his reason for coming to the temple. Strangely, the other warrior's face had twisted into a mask of pure hatred at the sight of the Hyrulean monarch, and Link decided that he needed to take full advantage of the distraction. The Master Sword was the entire reason he had come here, and he refused to be foiled by the appearance of the mimic. If the sword in the pedestal was a fake, he would be able to tell as soon as he held it. Taking a few cursory swipes with his sword and feigning being distracted by the arrival of the princess and her knights, he seized the chance as soon as it presented itself.

Link dove towards the Pedestal of Time, tucking into a low roll across the dais that the pedestal stood upon and coming up on one knee right next to the supposed Master Sword. Tossing his current weapon up into the air and catching it with his off hand, he seized the hilt of the ensconced blade and stood in one smooth motion, pulling the sword free in time to use it to bat aside a fast strike from his opponent's blade. The identical swords smashed against each other in a dazzling burst of light and a deafening crackle of energy, and the familiar power that Link felt thrumming through his hand as he held the blade banished any doubts he had regarding its legitimacy. He had no idea how it was even possible, but it seemed as though there really was two Master Swords.

The two warriors circled each other warily for a few moments as Link experimentally hefted both of his weapons simultaneously, then a wicked smile spread across his face as he settled into a stance usually associated with fighting with a sword and shield before he launched himself at the other warrior. Though unused to fighting with two swords, he was still an expert with a blade and used the pair of weapons to slash at his opponent with a dizzying flurry of blows, not giving the other man a chance to do anything but block and parry. Each strike of Master Sword on Master Sword showered the floor of the temple in a rain of pure white energy as the magical forces collided. While earlier the sallow-skinned doppelganger had proven that he was easily a match for the former knight in einhander swordsmanship, now Link was the one who was forcing the other man to stumble backwards under an onslaught of blows.

The other occupants of the chamber stood and watched silently, seemingly enraptured by the display as the two warriors danced their deadly fandango. Link caught a glimpse of Tuli, Talis's hand still tightly on her shoulder, her brow furrowed and lips moving slightly, seemingly deep in thought as she concentrated on the heated battle that was raging between the former knight and his imitator. Shifting her weight from heel to heel irritably, Ashei seemed likely to try to take on her captors at any moment, but even she was intent on the two warriors. Princess Zelda stood with her arms folded – her gaze hard as she followed every move of the fight – and the two knights that had accompanied her into the temple both stood as impassively as their sovereign, their swords still in hand but loosely held.

Link whirled around in a doubled version of his signature Spin Attack, the Master Sword in his left hand thrumming through the air and the ordinary knight's blade following through in its wake – the magical blade glanced off the other warrior's identical sword, sending a shower of sparkling white light arcing through the air and a clap of thunder resounding throughout the chamber while the arc of his second sword slipped underneath his foe's defences. The pitch-black material of the doppelganger's tunic parted easily as the tip of the weapon gouged a thin line across his torso, and he staggered back, surprised by the ferocity of the attack. Link refused to let up his assault, pressing his advantage to the utmost as he took swipe after swipe at his foe.

The next attack caused the two Master Swords to strike each other dead on the edge with Link's full strength behind his, sending painful reverberations through the muscles of both combatants' arms and sending up another spray of white motes of energy. The doppelganger winced in pain as the blow struck, the strangely-swaddled hilt of his weapon thrust hard against his palm, and he almost lost his grip on the weapon. Link had taken note of these lapses in his opponent's form during the fight and was beginning to take advantage of them, assuming that the other man must have some sort of injury that was interfering with his ability.

Springing backwards to regain his balance, the sallow-skinned warrior danced away from Link's assault and licked his chapped lips. "Alright, you want to play rough?" He sneered, reaching into one of the leather pouches at his belt with his free hand. "That's fine by me."

Link eyes widened once again as he recognised the small, fist-sized object that the other man withdrew from the container. Hard as it was to believe, it seemed that this mimic had somehow gotten his hands on a spinner. Link had thought that the rideable spinning top he had discovered in the Arbiter's Grounds had been an irreplaceable Gerudo artifact, but apparently it wasn't as unique as he had previously imagined. As he watched, the warrior tossed the small object down to the ground between his feet in exactly the same way that Link had done countless times with his own spinner.

The magical containment field that kept the spinner shrunk to a manageable size ruptured from the sudden impact with the stone ground and it sprung up underneath the other warrior's feet, the main body of the top already revolving at high speed while the rideable platform that the mimic now stood on remained relatively stationary. Taking in the item with a trained eye, Link noted that while it was definitely a spinner, it was not exactly the same as the one he personally kept in the exact same pouch on his belt that the sallow-skinned doppelganger had taken his from.

While overall it bore the same dull red and grey colour scheme of his own spinner, the rotating, gear-like teeth that ran along the outer rim of the artifact were edged in black, and a faint red glow emanated from underneath the doppelganger's feet where his boots touched the metal. Link twisted out of the way and dove across the room as the sallow-skinned warrior tilted the platform he stood on and came flying towards him, attempting to catch the former knight with the spinning edge of the artifact as his feet worked the pedals inset into its surface to put on bursts of speed. Link had used the same tactic on enemies before, and knew that it would only take a second of contact for the teeth of the spinner to gouge a chunk of flesh from his bones.

The doppelganger sped after Link, leaning forward and trying to take a swipe at him with his sword as well as with the edge of the spinner, but luckily the added height from the artifact placed the former knight just out of his reach. Despite the fact that his opponent had him on the defensive now, Link knew the limits of his own spinner, which would hopefully give him the advantage in this fight. While it started off with a strong revolution speed, the artifact would gradually lose momentum if it wasn't locked into a spinner track – of which there were none in the temple – and it would revert back to its smaller form once it completely lost its speed, causing its rider to drop to the ground. With any luck, the small lapse once the spinner had run itself down would give him the opening he needed to finish this battle once and for all.

Rolling off to one side, Link made a break for the corridor that joined the sword chamber with the entry hall, hoping to use the smaller area to restrict his opponent's movements. His plan backfired as the doppelganger careened into the passageway walls and bounced from side to side, gaining momentum as he followed the former knight at high speed. Trapped against one wall, he panicked as the spinner bore down on him. Thrusting his regular sword tip-first against the ground and bracing it with the side of his boot, he attempted to block the spinner from reaching his body. Pain lanced up his arm and he had to bite his lip to stop from crying out as the teeth of the artifact ground against the blade with incredible force. The distance between them now closed, the doppelganger swung down low with his sword to try to hack at Link's unprotected head when suddenly the blade of the former knight's weapon snapped in half under the strain of deflecting the spinner.

Link narrowly managed to spring out of the way as the artifact slammed against the wall, but as he did so the deadly edge of the spinner caught his left leg, tearing at the soft flesh of his thigh. This time, he let out a yell of pain as he hit the ground and tumbled back to his feet. He didn't have time to inspect the wound, but his leg only wobbled slightly when he put his weight on it, so he would have to worry about it later. The spinner wasn't slowing down at all, he realised in dismay as he retreated out of the corridor and into the main hall of the temple. For some reason, his opponent hadn't lost any momentum whatsoever, and the artifact was still rotating at the same speed it had been when he had initially thrown it down. Coming to terms with this quickly, he realised he couldn't keep dodging forever – he would need to come up with an alternate plan if he was to survive this encounter, and quickly.

As he stumbled across the hall, keeping a careful eye on his advancing foe, he noticed Zelda and her two knights head down the corridor after them, leading Tuli and Ashei along with them. The group kept their distance, obviously not yet ready to involve themselves in the fight. Despite his initial annoyance that they had shown up so early, Link found himself desperately hoping that Bain or Talis would intervene – he was rapidly running out of other options and despite his cool exterior, inside he was starting to really panic. Diving off to the side as the spinner closed in on him, the bloody-smeared trail he left on the floor alerted him to the fact that his injured leg seemed to be hurt worse than he had originally thought – the pain was gone however, likely due to the massive amounts of adrenaline flooding his system.

Bringing himself up in a crouch; an idea suddenly occurred to him as he watched the gear-like edge of the spinner rotate. His right hand was locked in a death grip around the hilt of his broken sword and was still trembling from the effort of deflecting the earlier attack; he fumbled with one of the pouches at his belt with his left hand, awkwardly trying to reach inside with his fingers without letting go of the Master Sword. Feeling the digits close around the object he had been searching for, he flicked it out of the pouch so that it landed on the ground next to his feet just as the doppelganger closed in. His opponent jerked backwards in surprise as the teeth of Link's own spinner linked with his like a pair of gears, the rotation causing the former knight's spinner to twist around the perimeter of his at high speed. Link thrust an elbow out behind him just in time to catch the other warrior in the small of the back with a blow that separated the two spinners again and sent them careening in opposite directions.

The two warriors regained their balance relatively quickly and turned to face each other, eyeing each other off from atop their respective spinners. Link's breath was coming in short, shallow gasps now, and he was starting to feel slightly light-headed – blood still oozed from the cut along his collarbone and the deeper gash in his thigh. He needed to finish this quickly. Tilting the platform to make his spinner leap forward, he brought up his sword in a feint that the doppelganger moved to intercept, then reversed the direction of his swing as their artifacts snapped back together. The interlocked spinners rolled around each other, building off each others momentum and whirling the two warriors around each other with astonishing speed. They fought as they orbited each other, their blades weaving elaborate patterns around them as they constantly altered the direction of their attacks. Link used the snapped-off sword to block and parry the attacks directed at him as he slashed at his foe continually with the Master Sword. He had reached a point where he was just attacking wildly now, and his foe was repeatedly caught by surprise by an attack that came out of nowhere.

The doppelganger was bleeding now too, with several long gashes along his arms and torso from the former knight's reckless attacks, and he fought with an animal fury that was matched only by Link's own. Another barrage of powerful strikes left the sallow-skinned warrior reeling, and Link lashed out with a powerful kick that caught his opponent full in the gut, sending him flying. The doppelganger hit the ground hard and the back of his head cracked against the stone floor, his sword skittering out of his grasp and across the floor of the hall as Link tapped a small pad on his spinner with his heel to reactivate the magical containment field. The former knight bent down and scooped the miniaturized artifact up from the ground after it shrank as he staggered over to where his opponent had fallen. The other warrior's spinner staggered away to smack against the opposite wall of the chamber before toppling over and laying still, its own miniaturization process kicking in the moment it stopped moving.

The sallow-skinned warrior was obviously disoriented from his fall, his head lolling forward as he attempted to struggle to his feet. Link didn't give him the chance, placing his right foot squarely on the other man's chest and shoving him back down roughly, pinning him to the stone floor. The former knight levelled his blade at his foe's throat and glowered down at him, causing the doppelganger to freeze, eyes fixated on the tip of the sword.

Before he had a chance to begin questioning his opponent, Link's attention was drawn by the princess's voice behind him, though she was too far away for him to make out the words. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Talis release Tuli's shoulder and begin to stride across the chamber towards him – Zelda must have decided that Link was sufficiently weakened for the knight to handle him alone. He looked back down to the warrior on the floor just in time to see black and purple energy flickering around the sallow-skinner doppelganger, and a change in mass beneath his foot combined with his exhaustion from the battle made him stumble backwards as he tried to steady himself. The mimic was gone – in his place was a massive grey and black wolf, and the animal was on its feet in an instant before springing up and slamming itself into the former knight.

Gasps of surprise and alarm sounded from the other end of the room, and out of the corner of his eye Link saw Ashei take advantage of the distraction, choosing that moment to drive her elbow deep into Bain's gut, knocking the air from his lungs, before pivoting her body around her arm and slamming the knuckles of her clenched fist into his face as he doubled over in pain. The knight fell backwards, crumpling to the ground like a dropped sack of potatoes even as the raven-haired adventurer snatched her sword back from his loosened grip. She unsheathed the blade with a flick of her wrist and ran over to interpose herself between Link and Talis.

Globules of fetid drool splashed down on Link's face as the wolf snapped its jaws, trying to latch onto his face – the Master Sword was pinned flat against the former knight's body, but the snapped-off blade of his second weapon was thrust against the beast's breast, digging through the matted fur and into tender flesh as the wolf's body weight and struggling crushed Link into the stone floor. He could barely breathe – the weight of the animal had forced the air from his lungs and green and purple spots began to dance in front of his eyes as he gasped for breath. A wave of dim panic swept through Link again as his arm, holding the blade that was keeping the beast from tearing his face off, began to give way.

Suddenly, the wolf let out a yelp of pain as something large and heavy slammed down onto its skull and the pressure on Link's chest was gone, the wolf having stumbled off of him. Wheezing as he sucked in a deep draft of air, the former knight stared blankly at the figure looming over him even as pieces of parchment fluttered down around him. Suddenly recognition sparked in his eyes. Tuli! She had smacked the wolf over the head with her leather case and was now looking over at where the doppelganger – changed back into his original form – was crawling away on all fours, clutching at his head. Link managed to choke out an indistinct word of thanks and started to try to struggle to his feet, but his legs gave way underneath him and he ended up flat on his chest on the cool stone of the temple floor, lying on top of the Master Sword.

Tuli was no longer paying him any attention, her eyes focused intently on the sallow-skinned warrior. Link had already forgotten her, his thoughts foggy and indistinct, a side effect of the combination of blood loss and lack of oxygen. Struggling up to his hands and knees, the broken blade lost and forgotten, he glanced around the rest of the room, trying to get his bearings. Talis and Ashei were locked in a stalemate, her thin blade repeatedly batted away by his shield as she nimbly avoided every one of his slower strokes. Zelda was on the other side of the room still, and as he looked over at her their eyes locked together and she started to glide across the floor towards him.

Something crunched under his hand and he looked down to see one of Tuli's parchments, covered in clearly marked musical notation carefully scribed in the scholar's elegant hand. Dimly he realised that it must be one of the melodies she had mentioned may have some effect when played on the Ocarina of Time. The ocarina… he looked up in panic. Zelda was still heading towards him – she was coming to take the ocarina away! He had to do something! Fumbling at one of the pouches at his belt, he withdrew the delicate instrument and concentrated on focusing his eyes enough to make out the notes on the page in front of him. He had only ever really played a few wind instruments before, but his fingers found the holes easily and he looked up again as he experimentally blew a single note.

Over to his right, the effect on the doppelganger was instantaneous, the sallow-skinned warrior whipping his head around, an expression of pure terror on his face. "No you fool! Not here!" He managed to croak as he tried to pull himself towards Link. Standing between them, a flash of sudden understanding passed over Tuli's face and she looked around the chamber as if seeing it for the first time. Twisting to face the former knight, her expression changed to one of horror as she realised what he was doing. Link ignored her; a single last glance up at the approaching monarch enough to make him squeeze his eyes shut and begin to play the tune on the parchment in front of him that had seared itself onto the back of his eyelids.

As the final note blared from the ocarina, Link felt a ripple pass through the air and he opened his eyes in time to see the world go mad. Reality shattered like a mirror around him, shards of the Temple of Time scattering out into darkness and piercing his mind and body from every side. He felt like he was being squeezed in a massive hand and torn apart at the same time, every fibre in his body crying out in anguish from the pain. A soul-rending roaring sound filled his ears, threatening to strike him deaf even as his eyes were blinded by a brilliant white light. Link felt the ocarina slip out of his numb fingers, and he began to scream.

- - - - - -

**END OF PART ONE.**

- - - - - -

_**A word from the author:**_

_Wow that was a massive chapter! I'm going to be taking a small break from new content for a while. As you may have noticed, I don't actually go back over and proofread or edit my writing straight away, which is why a number of errors and inconsistencies have slipped in here and there. I'm going to be taking this opportunity to collate all of my chapters into a master document and do some editing work – this might take a while to complete, so I'm not sure when I'll have a more polished product to present. Once I do though, I'll replace the content on and I may even put it together into a PDF for download before I resume creating new chapters._

_I thank everyone for their kind words and support – what started off as a small exercise for me to flex some mental muscles that hadn't been used in a while has sort of blown up into a fully-fledged project that I've sunk more than a few hours into. I would especially like to thank Exp.Fan.626, whose insight into the Zeldaverse and creative genius has inspired and guided me in this endeavour._

_I don't get too much feedback on this story, but heaps of people have added me to their favourite authors / favourite stories / author alerts / story alerts without leaving any reviews (and I mean __**heaps**__). While normally I don't mind this that much, considering the story is going on hiatus for a little while I would be thrilled to hear from more of you, even if it's just a quick sentence saying that you're enjoying things so far. The more fuss that people kick up now that I'm stopping updating, the harder I will work and the faster I'll be in starting up again._

_For now, I leave you for now with a small taste of things to come – the stage has been set, the heroes are assembled… but what of the villains? I'll see you all again once I've finished fixing up part one!_

_- myth_

- - - - - -

Veran sighed softly to herself as her eyes cast lazily over the message before she folded the paper daintily in half. Her blue skin seemed to glimmer in the flickering light from the fireplace, and her long red hair hung loose, cascading down around her shoulders in a fiery waterfall.

The twili magic-user was reclining on her favourite couch, a luxurious affair of deep purple velvet and rare wood carved from a fallen branch of the Maku Tree of Labrynna, in the private comfort of her personal, lavishly-appointed suite in the palace. She did so love to bask in the beauteous extravagances of this World of Light, and it seemed as though she would have plenty of time to relax and enjoy her opulent surrounds, now that the next phase of her plans had to be abandoned.

She held up the small folded missive that her seneschal had brought her in her long, delicate fingers and a cold blue flame engulfed the paper, leaving nothing behind, not even ash. The directions from Kotake and Koume contained thereon had been quite explicit, and she had already committed them to memory. Though Veran had no clue as to what the Twinrova sisters were scheming now that this new development rendered their previous plans obsolete, she intended on continuing her cooperation with the Gerudo witches for as long as it proved to be profitable.

Even as she considered spending her newly gained free time simply relaxing in her palatial apartments, her perverse mind was examining the situation from every angle with a cold calculation that most would find terrifying, searching for any way to glean an advantage. "So the Dark Lord has risen without our assistance... I wonder..." The Sorceress of Shadows mused as she stretched languidly across the soft couch, her ample bosom seemingly on the verge of spilling out from her tight-fitting purple bodice. "What does this change?"

- - - - - -

Watching the Hyrulean monarch leave, Vaati smiled inwardly. His hands gripped the marble railing of the palace balcony lightly as he turned to look down at the miniature fields and villages of Hyrule, far below the floating city. Zelda was a fool. While she may see him as an untapped resource, a possible ally to incorporate into her own machinations, all he saw in her was the same thing he had always seen – a vessel filled with golden light, power that he would seize for his own.

Thanks to the princess, the former minish had taken his rightful place as the ruler of the City in the Sky, but his ambitions did not end there. The revelation that the Light Force within Princess Zelda was but one of three parts had come as a shock, but no more so than her coming to him for _help_. He had been quite amenable once she had put forward her proposal for an exchange of services, but what she didn't realise is that not only had she delivered him a base of operations, she was also handing him that golden light he so desperately craved on a silver platter.

Once he had secured Link, he would extract the Light Force from the fallen hero and absorb its power, then use the City in the Sky as a staging ground for his assault on Hyrule itself. With the Triforce of Courage in his possession, Zelda and the Triforce of Wisdom would be his next target. The next time he saw the Hyrulean monarch she would be on her knees, begging him for mercy.

"So blind you are, little princess." Baring his teeth in a sneer of contempt, the Duke of Winds flicked his long, purple cape ostentatiously over his shoulder as he cast his gaze out over the unsuspecting kingdom. "This changes nothing."

- - - - - -

The Dark Lord Ganondorf sat relaxed atop his obsidian throne, deep in the heart of Hyrule Castle, from which he ruled the grim empire he had forged from the ashes of the old kingdom. His sun-darkened features were smooth and impassive, and his blackened steel armor clinked softly as he shifted on his blood-soaked throne. Even at rest, he was an imposing sight – he seemed to loom over the room, suffocating it with his very presence. He was alone in the massive chamber, which was the way he liked it – to him, lesser beings were pawns at best, and distractions at worst.

Leaning back with one elbow resting upon the polished black stone, his hand paused mid-stroke on his chin, the gerudo sorcerer pondered the images that flashed across his vision, conjured forth by his spell of scrying. Powerful gerudo magic eddied invisibly around him as he deftly manipulated it with his mind, using the arts taught to him by the Twinrova witches to watch his enemies from afar as they bumbled about, unwittingly playing right into his hands.

The foundations of plans he had spent years preparing were crumbling away, but already the twisting pathways of his mind were hard at work using these developments to formulate new schemes and plots, his objectives adapting to the new circumstances. Ganondorf had fought his way up to where he was now with tooth and claw, sacrificing everything and committing heinous deeds for the sake of his ambitions – but new goals were slowly forming in his mind now as he realised there were still greater heights for him to strive towards.

The corner of Dark Lord's lips curved slightly in the ghost of a smirk as he spoke quietly to himself, his deep baritone thrumming with barely contained eagerness. "This changes _everything_."


End file.
